Ear Power - Tom LoBianco Reports, Ep. 15
At noon on the show, the power of listening for commonality when agitators scream louder. And a cameo from a maybe seasonal Labubu.
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It’s Monday, Sept. 15. Coming up today on the 15th episode of Tom LoBianco Reports, from 24sight News and our friends at Political Voices Network, the power of hearing each other.
Tune into the show at Noon ET here or catch the replay at 8p ET at Political Voices Network.
My friend and colleague Ian B. Walters, is manning the board as we launch into Week Four of the show.
I’d love to hear from you, you can reply to this email or bring your thoughts and comments on this moment in our nation’s history. If it’s a day that ends in the letter “Y”, it’s open phones here.
The ‘Ear’esy Atop this Email
That is, indeed, a Pumpkin Spice Labubu up there at the top. It is the season for cultural atrocities, so I asked AI to do its damndest. And now damned we all are.
Legit, though, that’s a really solid AI rendering of two entirely benevolent things which seem to generate some controversy nonetheless, usually when the pumpkin spice is added to places where it clearly doesn’t belong (hummus).
I hope everyone had a nice weekend. We all need a rest and the weather’s starting to get nice (in most pockets of the country.) I appreciate you kicking it with me daily as we get the show rolling.
Now, to the news.
Suspect Tea Leaves
That double entendre regarding the murder last week of Charlie Kirk and capture of suspect Tyler Robinson is intentional.
Five days after the nation hit yet another milestone tearing us apart by politics, more is known about the details of the alleged shooter. Bullet casings etched in video game trolling? Anti-fascist folk song? A furry transgender roommate or maybe partner? A white nationalist Halloween costume? A technical college standout?
The race by politicos (led by the president himself) is running well ahead of any actual understanding of Robinson’s motive. And this all before Robinson was even identified, or charged, or tried.
The layers of this pivotal moment are many and interlocking, and the race to insert motives only amplifying the rage, hate and fear which has already driven a wedge through the United States.
It is accurate that Kirk made racist comments like saying Michele Obama and Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson took a “white person’s slot” and also accurate he called for raw and open debate without fear of being fired for making similar comments.
It is also accurate that as much as the sitting president has used Kirk’s murder to call for attacking people based on their political beliefs, that’s already been well underway in his second term through targeting universities, law firms and media companies unless they adhere to his requested political thinking.
It is accurate that many online commentators have said that Kirk had it coming because of the vile rhetoric he pushed. It is also accurate that his family lost a brother, father and husband and millions of Americans lost an influential leader they identified with.
What does it all mean? I don’t know, I’m not sure we’re supposed to know. It’s all complicated and varied, contradictory and hypercharged, tense and angry, compassionate and mournful. It’s all quintessentially, emotionally human. And we are all living through the results of it.
But there are some things we can do weather this.
Ignore the Outrage Entrepreneurs
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox coined a term on CNN’s “State of the Union” yesterday which, as many like
have noted, could easily become the defining term of our time: “Outrage entrepreneurs”.If there’s a turning point in this moment, it seems to be a growing chorus of American leaders across the political spectrum stating plainly: social media and the toxic algorithms built to maximize profit through engagement are making everyone involved sick.
Here’s Sam Harris on this phenomenon, with even more bluntness: “If the medium is the message, the message is mass psychosis”.
Some rage merchants are impossible to ignore, the sitting president and his top policy director say this is the moment to begin attacking their political opponents. The governor of California has rebranded his image in part showing him cuckolding the president of the United States.
We are all dancing in an out-of-control Los Angeles wildfire with no clear end in sight.
Which brings me to our ears.
The Power of Hear
Morton Blackwell, Chris Matthews and Jim Lehrer walk into a bar.
That’s what I thought of as I was reading Blackwell’s “Laws of the Public Policy Process” this morning with Ian. It reminded me of Matthews’ seminal handbook for the practice of politics, “Hardball.” It reminded Ian of Lehrer’s 16 rules for all journalists.
Blackwell’s no lefty, hell, he is the bedrock of the Christian Right in this nation. Matthews is no righty, he cut his teeth with the legendary Boston lefty Tip O’Neill before moving to broadcast. And Lehrer (RIP) was the consummate newsman, just the facts, follow the story.
Right, left, news, they all sounded remarkably similar. So I’m going to do a mashup here and reveal the attributions later on the show.
“Dance with the one that brung ya”
“An ounce of loyalty is worth a pound of cleverness”
“Assume personal lives are a private matter unless a legitimate turn in the story mandates otherwise.”
Listen to their wise advice and you hear the power of reason, honor, integrity.
***
See you at noon, friends. I appreciate your trust and our growing community.
Catch up
Did you miss Thursday’s show? Watch it here! This is a grim moment in our nation’s history, what is our responsibility as citizens?
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