Just Remember

Kal-El Was a Journalist

We used to agree that “Truth, Justice, and the American Way” was a really super value system.  Right up there with “We hold these truths to be self-evident.”  Well, times have changed about self-evident truths in our doublethink world of Donald Trump. And, the American Way is no longer a commonly held myth, much less a commonly shared value or goal.

A sharp-eyed subscriber with an even sharper mind replied to my mention of a neighborhood banner that screamed “God. Guns. Trump.”  I repeat her comment in full here because I find it so timely and informative.

“I wonder if there was small print on that cloth banner that said: "Pick two. You'll never get all three." Much like the two out of three choice we all experience every day: Price, Quality, Speed. It's called the iron triangle or the Unattainable Triangle. Impossible for all three to happen. https://ellyandnoracreative.com/quality-speed-or-price/”  Follow this thought leader at https://georgiapatrick.substack.com/.

Well, truth has become slippery and justice lately is just a tad partisan. That leaves us with the American Way—and I truly hope my neighbor’s banner ain’t it.

If we cannot attain all three of our previously held values, I say “Let truth go first.”  That is where we lost our way in 2015.  It’s not too late to regroup.  Truth is fact-driven.  It is observable and recordable.  Opinion in reporting is only allowed where clearly announced.  And, I for one, do not yearn for it.  Just give me the facts and let me draw my own conclusions.  Do not guide me.

Opinion is what so many people are so royally sick of hearing these days.  Why they are taking a “time out” from or just swearing off media.  It’s a “cold turkey” phenomenon at precisely the wrong time of year that advertisers do not like.  It could affect the GDP numbers.  Who the hell wants to buy an ugly Christmas sweater for crazy Uncle Al?  Or, spend time and money to get somewhere close enough for long enough to bear through his truly demented views about Election 2024?

Now, More Than Ever, Journalism Save Us

Superman, you may recall, was born on the planet of Kypton as Kal-El.  Transported to earth for his own safety, and reared with middle class values in the center of the country, in his adulthood he worked as a timid journalist at a newspaper in New York City. When crime threatened the citizenry, he would change into colorful tights in the privacy of the nearest phone booth (yes, we had those) and then would issue forth to battle evil and injustice. Always successfully.

If aliens indeed are among us, I’m hoping one or more buy into a value system of peace, love, and understanding.  I never went to San Francisco or wore flowers in my hair.  I did not bliss out at Woodstock.  God bless and keep those who did.

I am part of the Silent Generation. I was far too busy trying to be quietly outrageous.  Albeit on a far less noticeable scale than my birth group buddies like The Beatles and Martin Luther King, Jr.

I remember the voices those of us in the middle class trusted for news—Ed Murrow, Walter Cronkite, and (blessedly, still) Dan Rather.  We are at an inflection point globally that reminds me of Princess Leia rousting an elderly hermit out of retirement to use his super powers to save the galaxy (from evil, of course, you silly).

Saving the galaxy from all evil seems a bit grand for the moment.  Let’s scale down to immediate issues and challenges.  I’ll settle for some gal or guy working in any communication mode, on any reputable platform, willing to share findings with a legacy media operation of good repute.  These journalists need not be unfailingly good and honest.  They need not fight evil with the aid of extraordinary strength and endurance abilities. A codename may prove useful and necessary.  A colorful costume is completely optional.  Working out of New York is no longer mandatory. 

After the fashion of Princess Leia, I seek the journalists with the courage and cunning to uncover and record the “true” facts of our time upon which historians will rely.  I ask them to respond to the information crisis of our time.  To uphold the high standards of their chosen profession and to resist failure.

The task is daunting but not impossible.  Follow the money.  Where it is right now.  Where it is headed, going forward.  This current climate of chaos and corruption is drunk on itself.  It won Election 2024.  The Project 2025 playbook that Trump is following as he nominates sycophants to cabinet and key administrative posts tells us plainly that Donald Trump’s second administration will stomp out oversight if at all possible.  Yet, it is the nature of chaos to contain its own defeat. 

Let the tale when it is told be the turning of the arc of history toward a more perfect union.

And let journalists be remembered as the heroes of the moment.

Look on the bright side—facts can be monetized.