The Media is Not Fake—Just Incompetent

By Mildred Robertson

As I sat this past weekend and watched the train-wreck that was the rollout of the Mueller Report, I was astounded at its findings. I was saddened by the Attorney General’s response, and disappointed that the American people had been ill-served by a media that was eager to get the scoop, and that missed the opportunity to live up to the expectations of the Founders. The Founders rightfully posited that it was the news media; the “Fourth Estate”, that would truly keep us free. 

Unfortunately, the American media was duped by the “evil genius.”

It is and has been Donald Trump’s mantra that leading journalists across our nation represent “fake news,” as they fought to be the first to announce his every utterance. The media clamored to beat competitors to report on his every malevolent act. And they reported them over and over again. Trump’s purported misdeeds piled upon one another until it seemed irrefutable that the Mueller report would expose his corruption. While those on the left listened to pundits predicting his downfall, and those on the right chanted “no collusion”, American citizens had become numb to the conversation. 

The wall-to-wall coverage he was afforded during the presidential campaign made him ubiquitous in households across America. Whether you hated him or adored him, you sure knew what he was saying or doing almost every moment of the day. The media fed us a constant stream of small and large infractions that at first assaulted our sensibilities. But as the media continued to chip away at the Trump presidency and his organization, each infraction became less scandalous, less unnerving, and less outrageous than the last. Trump coverage began to affect us much as the rowdy relative at the family reunion. Misbehavior was to be expected. It became common place.

The major news networks were not reporting things that were fake. They were just reporting things that were not news. You see, if you told me yesterday that there was a dossier that alleged that Trump had been compromised by the Soviets, unless you have additional facts to support that statement today, it is not news. If you’ve informed me already that Trump is a womanizer who would take illegal steps to hide it, and you cannot add factual data to that story today, then it is not news. But the American public was fed a steady diet of Trump trivia all day, every day. 

He determined the news cycle. If it wasn’t going his way, he would do or say something outrageous. And the media fell for it. The most minute fact would send the media into a tail spin of competing news casts outlining every tiny detail of every tiny infraction. They came to call it, “going down the rabbit hole.” And Trump had lots of rabbits that he dispatched at will.

I contrast this mode of journalism to that which shaped our nation in the 1960’s. It was the media that turned the Civil Rights movement from a spark to a flame. They did not pontificate. They simply showed us the facts; facts made more impactful by the advent of broadcast television news. When they held up the mirror before our faces, America could not tolerate the image and demanded change.

But coverage of the Trump presidency has showered us with trivia, leaving the American public to dig through the minutia to find truth. We need more reporting and less punditry. We need more journalism and less entertainment. 

We don’t know what is in the Mueller report. But because of the way this conversation has been shaped, the fact that Mueller did not indict Trump is being viewed as a failure. However, the failure is not in the Mueller report; it is in the media reporting. 

Blatant Disregard for Voting Rights in North Carolina Challenged

By Mildred Robertson

The right to vote. It is the foundation upon which our democracy is built. And that right is under attack in the state of North Carolina, according to the Wake County Superior Court which just threw out two of the recently ratified NC constitutional amendments: voter I.D. and the income tax cap. The Court ruled that the North Carolina General Assembly is so profoundly gerrymandered that those elected do not represent the desires of citizens of this state. The Court stated that: "An illegally constituted General Assembly does not represent the people of North Carolina and is therefore not empowered to pass legislation that would amend the state's constitution."

This ruling comes down at the same time North Carolina’s 9^th Congressional District struggles with a different kind of voter disenfranchisement. The State Board of Elections has declined to seat Republican John Harris who appeared to have won the November General Election by a little over 900 votes. The Board found that political operative McCrae Dowless committed fraud in running Harris’s absentee ballot campaign in Bladen County and refused to seat him. While Harris has fought to be seated since the election, claiming that the number of contested ballots would not have changed the outcome, on yesterday during a fraud hearing he capitulated to the Board’s call for a new race after blistering testimony from his son, John Harris. The younger Harris challenged his father’s statement that he was unaware of Dowless’ history of shady electioneering. John Harris went on to say that he had advised his father against hiring Dowless.

These are very real examples of why federal oversight of voting rights in the South is as important today as it was when the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson. That Act was aimed at overcoming legal barriers at the state and local levels that prevented African Americans from exercising their right to vote as guaranteed under the 15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

The obvious gerrymandering of North Carolina voting districts, as well as the brazen manipulation and destruction of absentee ballots in Bladen County are representative of a blatant disrespect for minority voting rights in this state. We can take some comfort in the fact that the Wake County Superior Court and the State Board of Elections did their due diligence to level the playing field in these instances. But how many other similar situations have gone unchallenged? How many legislators sit in our halls of democracy as illegitimate representatives of the districts they purport to serve?

And, unfortunately, North Carolina does not stand alone. We can look to states such as Florida and Georgia to discern that the “New South” is not that new. Questionable election practices in both these states leave us to wonder at the legitimacy of those elections. The question is, was every vote counted, and did every citizen have access?

If we do not safeguard the right of every citizen to participate in our democracy then we fail to live up to our fullest potential. Candidates should not choose their voters. Voters should not have to suffer undue hardships to gain access to the ballot box and every legitimate vote should be counted.

In order for us to be a truly self-governing republic, our elected officials must represent our core values and beliefs.  If their very existence is based on illegally constituted districts and irregular election practices how can they possibly represent us?

The Wake County Superior Court and the North Carolina Board of Elections say they cannot. For that, at least we can be thankful.

Progressives Must Vet Presidential Hopefuls with Civility

By Mildred Robertson

As more and more democrats announce their intention to run during the 2020 Presidential Election, the feeding frenzy begins. Mainstream media and self-prescribed social media pundits alike have begun to dissect each candidate, laying bear their perceived or actual flaws in order to promote their preferred candidate. My advice to progressives hoping to see a better outcome in 2020 than we got in 2016—STOP IT!

Don’t get me wrong; a healthy discussion about each candidate and his or her historic stance on key issues is imperative. But that discussion needs to be based on actual, documented facts; not just select anecdotes and social media tropes that do not fully vet the candidates’ positions, action or intent.

What we all must do now is listen, research and select the candidate that most closely reflects our own views and political positions; and determine whether he or she can stand the national spotlight and the attacks that will surely come from the GOP. It is not necessary for us to do the work of the GOP by fatally wounding every democratic candidate during the primaries. By so doing, we provide a road map to a 2020 victory for the Republicans.

What I see when I look out at the field of Democratic presidential hopefuls is a diverse set of talent and experience. There appear to be many qualified candidates that can pick up the progressive mantle and carry it to a November 2020 victory. Our job is to elevate the one, without denigrating all the others.

There are a number of candidates who I think have what it takes to lead effectively. Many hold the same or similar political positions that I hold. There are some who seem completely authentic, and there are some who seem to have the political chops to turn positions into policy. But none of that is important if they cannot survive the meat grinder that is the presidential election process. We have to look carefully at all these candidates and determine the one who best represents our progressive agenda while simultaneously determining that he or she can make it through the primaries and survive national scrutiny in the presidential election.

Let’s not make the same mistakes in 2020 that we made in 2016. Let’s debate the issues facing progressives, but keep the fight in the family civil. Save the vitriol for the Grand Old Party.

America on the Brink: A Congress in Crisis

By Mildred Robertson

Our government is comprised of three distinct co-equal branches of government intended to bring balance to our nation’s governance.  It is sometimes referred to as a “Three Legged Stool”. It is necessary for each branch to carry out its function to maintain a stable government. The unorthodox presidency of Donald J. Trump appears to threaten that stability; and the “stool,” which represents our government, is in danger of toppling.  We have arrived at this juncture, due in large part to the failure of Congress to carry out its duty to perform oversight and represent the people who elected them.

As envisioned by our Founders, Congress is called upon to “share” power with the president and Supreme Court. But the Trump presidency has challenged this convention by power grabs that have gone unchallenged by the Republican-led Congress.  To date, only the courts have challenged the immoral, unlawful and/or unconstitutional acts of the Trump presidency. The impotency of the 115^th United States Congress has placed this nation on the brink of a Constitutional crisis.

After two years under this administration we have seen unprecedented attacks on the values, mores and legal precedents that have made America a unique world leader. As the 45^th president attempts to unilaterally govern, we find ourselves plummeting toward an autocracy that devalues women, discriminates against minorities, is oblivious to sound fiduciary policy, and promotes factless policy. Under Trump’s soulless leadership, the worst tendencies of the most depraved of our society have been amplified.  

As the nation whirls in a downward spiral, those who could regulate this run-away presidency stand silent and complicit. U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan was all but invisible throughout his tenure as Speaker of the House; allowing House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes to corrupt the investigations of wrong-doings by the Trump administration while passing a deficit-busting tax cut for the rich.

Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has blocked all efforts to legislatively circumvent Trump’s overreach regarding presidential powers. He stands silently now as the president holds the nation hostage over an ill-conceived wall that is both useless and costly. Thousands of Americans are in danger of losing everything in the wake of a government shutdown devised to save face for the president’s failure to deliver on a campaign promise.  Still, McConnell stands silent.

The president has threatened to invoke emergency powers for no reason other than to get his way.   With two legs of the proverbial stool severely compromised, its ability to stand is in question.

We are in crisis, but it is a crisis that can be averted. Now that Nancy Pelosi has replaced Ryan as Speaker of the House, there is hope that Congress may once again begin to exert some power over this run-away presidency. But she cannot do it alone…the Democrats in the House cannot do it alone.

The Republicans in the Senate must rise above party and tend to the needs of the country. They will either step up or watch this nation devolve. They must embrace their oversight role and block this president’s attempts at authoritarianism. They will have to do it without any assistance from McConnell.

 It is my prayer that the vow Congressional Republicans made to the Constitution and the American people will override their loyalty to the Republican Party. Otherwise, this president will continue to destroy our nation, and we will plunge headlong over the brink.

Death at the Border: America's Nightmare

By Mildred Robertson

The Trump administration’s wanton disregard for human life is evidenced by the death of two young children taken into custody at the border; sacrificed on the altar of border security. I am fairly certain that these losses do not weigh heavily on the conscience of Donald Trump; but I wonder does Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, or other Trump administration officials who have implemented these dastardly immigration processes and procedures have night visitations by these young innocents. I wonder are they haunted by the faces of these children whose only crime was to be born to parents fleeing oppression and persecution.

America was founded on the premise that we are a nation of immigrants, welcoming all who dream of liberty and prosperity and are willing to work for it. That is what these migrants represent. They, like our founders, are fleeing oppression and will face whatever peril awaits them for the opportunity to breathe free.

The Trump administration has stifled their attempts to find a better life with immoral policies and procedures that put lives at risk and corrupt our national legacy of equal justice and compassion for the poor and disenfranchised. Rather we have become the epitome of the “Ugly Americans,” who show disdain for the rest of the world; hoarding their wealth and shutting themselves off from everyone else.

How immoral is it to dump water in the desert to deny migrants a life-saving drink?  How depraved is it to jail children in freezing cages while denying them the comfort of a mother’s or father’s embrace. How morally bankrupt is it to deny a sick child food, water and basic medical attention? How pitiful is it to let children die in your care simply because they are poor and brown…and then say that it is their fault for daring to make the journey?

We often paint America with vibrant colors, leaving out all the darkness that is our heritage. But in order to see the real vision of who we are, we must include the darkness that is the “Trial of Tears,” the belly of the slave ship, the strips laid by the master’s overseer, the redlining of our neighborhoods, the inequitable justice system and the belief that somehow, white people are more entitled to the liberties offered by our constitution. Despite the incongruity of the lives they led and the words they spoke, the Founders said “All men are created equal.” It is a legacy that we declare we live by.

But that legacy is once again being tainted by the darkness of our weaker, meaner, more selfish selves. No child should be put at peril while in our care. No mother should experience the terror of having her child ripped from her arms with no assurance that she will ever see him or her again. No person that attempts the lawful act of immigrating to this country should be criminalized, victimized, and left for dead.

I do not know how Kirstjen Nielsen sleeps at night. I know that I do not sleep well. I know that I fall asleep at night, and wake in the morning wondering how we can redeem the soul of this nation.  We are trapped in a national nightmare. When we will awaken?

NC NAACP Urges Governor to Veto Voter ID Legislation

By Mildred Robertson

The North Carolina NAACP Conference has called on North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper to veto lame duck legislation recently pushed through by the GOP. The organization says it believes Senate Bill 824, “Implementation of Voter ID Constitutional Amendment,” will negatively impact minority voters in the state. 

The NAACP has drafted a letter, dated December 12, 2018, that outlines in great detail why the legislation is bad for the citizens of North Carolina. The letter further details that the  U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit has already struck down North Carolina General Assembly’s previous attempt to enact a photo voter ID requirement in the 2013 omnibus voter restriction and photo voter ID law. The Court found that the voter ID legislation targets African-Americans "with almost surgical precision.” It further found that the legislation was “enacted with racially discriminatory intent,” and that it imposed cures for problems that did not exist.

Rev. Dr. T. Anthony Spearman, president of the North Carolina NAACP Conference, states that there is no new justification for the implementation of this law and that it provides no additional safeguards for the voting process in the state. This legislation, he says, is simply evidence of the General Assembly’s “improper motivations.”

To read the letter in its entirety follow this link: LETTER

The Myth of Equal Justice

By Mildred Robertson

Cyntoia Brown killed a man. She will spend at least 51 years in prison if her sentence stands. It’s a familiar story…a troubled youth suffering from lack of parental support, trapped in the sex trade with no hope of escape. Brown says that she feared that the 43-year-old man that purchased her for sex would kill her. Prosecutors argued that she only wanted to rob him and chose to charge her as an adult with first degree felony murder and aggravated robbery. She got two concurrent life sentences. She was 16 years old. 

While there are many reasons why Cyntoia should not have been tried as an adult, including the fact that she was an underage victim of abuse, sex trafficking and suffered from a fetal alcohol disorder due to an alcoholic mother who abandoned her, her case is representative of the unequal balance of justice in our country.

According to a report submitted by “The Sentencing Project to the United Nations in April 2018, African Americans are more likely than white Americans to be arrested. Once arrested they are more likely to be convicted and to experience lengthy prison sentences.

It is conceivable that, had Cyntoia, been prep-school Becky from Manhattan, the courts would have viewed her differently. Her tragic life would likely have engendered sympathy and she would have been viewed as a victim rather than a predator. This is evidenced by numerous cases where the courts have shown leniency to young people who have committed crimes.

While Brown languishes in jail for killing her molester, Jacob Anderson, a former Baylor University fraternity president accused of raping a woman at a fraternity party avoided jail time as a Texas judge accepted a plea bargain that allowed 23-year-old Anderson to plead no contest to the lesser charge of unlawful restraint. By pleading no-contest Anderson did not have to admit guilt nor offer a defense.  

In a similar case, a California judge sentenced a former Stanford University swimmer to a six-month jail sentence for sexually assaulting an unconscious woman. Prosecutors had asked for six years for 20-year old Brock Turner. Superior Court Judge Aaron Persky said that Turner's age and lack of criminal history made him feel that imposing a six-month jail sentence with probation was appropriate. “A prison sentence would have a severe impact on him," Persky said.

It seems that the judicial system is comfortable looking the other way when white, middle and upper-middle class white men commit crimes, but find it difficult to find compassion for people of color who run afoul of the law. In 2016 Black youth accounted for 15% of all U.S. children yet made up 35% of juvenile arrests in that year.

The Sentencing Project found that one out of every three black boys born in 2001 could expect to go to prison in his lifetime. For Latinos it is one of every six, compared to just one out of 17 white boys in the same category. While ethnic disparities among women was found to be less substantial, they remain relevant.

The project determined that the United States has developed two distinct criminal justice systems…one for wealthy people and another for poor people and people of color. While America says that Lady Liberty is fair and balanced, minorities and the poor commonly don’t have access to the best lawyers who can defend their constitutional rights. This is evidenced by the overwhelmingly disproportionate incarceration of the poor and people of color.

Cyntoia’s case has gained attention because of several celebrities that have come to her defense. It is possible that the governor of Tennessee may pardon her. Let’s hope that happens. But that will not mitigate the myriad number of people incarcerated wrongly, or who suffer under overly harsh sentences because they are poor or black. It seems that justice is neither blind nor balanced in the United States. It appears that equal justice is a myth.