The origins of the current usage of the phrase came out of the 2004 presidential race when it was hung on John Kerry, and he fell for the ruse. The media picked it up and has run with it ever since, certainly in a “copy-cat” style.

My point is that today’s media gets caught up in these astonishingly stupid catch-phrases and jargon, which are designed to manipulate and distract them from real issues … and the media falls for it, again and again, as if they have a microphone but not a brain.  But, then, many in the media today are more focused on their own fame and fortune than ferreting out news, and that includes being cozy with power brokers at the detriment of objectivity.

I highly recommend reading today’s column by John Rich of The New York Times.  If the media and many of the rest of us cannot focus on real issues, then let’s elect Wall-E president.

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Each year on the eve of the 4th of July, the waterfront community of Chesapeake Beach, Maryland, has a terrific fireworks show.  Last night was no exception.

Click here for video of the show: Chesapeake Beach, MD, annual fireworks

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So, it was in that context that I saw this troublesome story in today’s New York Times under the headline, “U.S. Is in No Shape to Give Advice, Medvedev Says.”  Regardless of what you or I might think of him, Russia’s new president, Dmitri Medvedev, pulled no punches when he told reporters, “that an America in ‘essentially a depression’ was in no position to lecture other countries.”

His comments were made on the same day that our President told the American people that if they had a problem with the price of gasoline, write their congressmen to open up new oil exploration … a suggestion that would take years before the first drop of oil was produced.

There is growing talk here in Washington, too, about the “D” word that no one wants to say aloud.

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Yesterday, for example, while picking up dry cleaning from the shop we use in McLean, Virginia, the shop owner, her employees, people outside on the sidewalk and I were interrupted by a man with an extremely loud voice who had parked his enormous black SUV not in a normal parking space but in the middle of the parking lot, to bring in his laundry. The fact that he apparently felt he was so self-important and hence, could park anywhere he pleased, blocking other cars, didn’t seem to bother him. Heck, he was Terry McAuliffe, who until recently was chief campaign fundraiser for Hillary Clinton.  He’s a guy who has gotten rich from raising money for political campaigns.  I got the impression that he was loud because he wanted everyone to look him, the self-perceived center of importance … part of his mojo. Reminded me of a kid I knew in high school.

You see that sort of hubris a lot in Washington.  None of it is focused on how to make America better, safer or aimed on critically needed nation-building, as Tom Friedman wrote about in today’s New York Times.

The little display by McAuliffe, whose deafening speaking tone I believe is normal, is indicative of the blind arrogance that has infected our nation’s capital, fed by money, greed and power.  Multiply that many times over, and I believe it’s one of the reasons that nothing really gets accomplished in Washington, except to make the players richer.  But what really is happening is that it is ultimately making the United States less than respected and less influential on the world stage.

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Fear is not a new method of controlling the public.  When I was a kid, it was the fear of nuclear attack, from either the Soviets or Martians.  We’d get under our school desks in “duck and cover” drills.

For the last seven years, America has been governed by a White House that has skillfully made manipulation of public opinion through fear into a dark and terribly destructive art form.

Fox News was among the first to use TV news to market fear in order to build ratings and enhance advertising revenue stream. Then, the other cable channels, TV networks and local stations piled on the fear bandwagon.

We hear of law enforcement agencies over-reacting out of fear, perhaps of the sky falling.

Now, because a few people possibly became ill from salmonella from tomatoes, Five Guys, the chain of burger joints, is among restaurants that have stopped serving tomatoes, maybe for good, for fear of … something.

Good grief! What about, as an alternative, seeking confirmed safer sources (and higher quality) of tomatoes and washing them in mild organic soap and warm water?

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You may be recall that ex-CBS News anchorman Dan Rather joined HDNet, and Rather today is doing some of his best work there.  The spectrum of high definition TV channels that comprise the HDNet networks is available on nearly every cable system in America except … Comcast.

Visit HDNet’s Web site, and there is a page that says, “Comcast has chosen not to make HDNet and HDNet Movies available …”

I asked a Comcast representative for comment, and he could offer no explanation about why HDNet is not carried by Comcast. I have exchanged emails with Mark Cuban, Founder and owner of HDNet, and he wrote, “I can’t figure out why they won’t carry us.”

One thing is for sure — an enormous slice of the U.S. population that’s served today by Comcast cable TV is being denied outstanding news, sports and entertainment programming from HDNet.

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Bunker Hill is a new independent feature film from infinitely talented and noted director Kevin Willmott (left in the photo with me at the screening in Washington, DC), who is based in Lawrence, Kansas.  Bunker Hill is now making the rounds nationwide of film festivals and screenings.

The film stars Emmy and Peabody Award winner James McDaniel (NYPD Blue, Sunshine State); Saeed Jaffrey the legendary actor from India who has starred in more than 150 films including Gandhi, Passage to India, My Beautiful Launderette and The Man Who Would Be King; and Laura Kirk, star and co-writer of the acclaimed feature film “Lisa Picard Is Famous,” which premiered at The Cannes Film Festival.

Bunker Hill is the story of a former Wall Street executive who leaves prison after 9-11 and heads for the small town of Bunker Hill, Kansas, where his ex-wife and their children have started a new life. Soon after he arrives, an apparent massive terrorist attack against America darkens the town. Cut off from the world, the town’s militant past is reawakened and forces coalesce to protect citizens from an unseen enemy. The town’s fear leads to the creation of a posse of gunmen, torture, illegal searches and eventually, murder.

Look beyond what seems like a lot of violence (actually not much at that) to the honest and raw realness of Bunker Hill.  It is a film not to be missed.

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