How Journalism Should Be

In case you forgot, I have my BA in journalism. Obviously I don't intend on using that degree, considering I'm starting nursing school in a few short months (eek!), but I'm still very much passionate about the field and writing will forever be a part of who I am, whether I make money off of it or not. A while back, I wrote about why I chose to not become an employee of American media, but every so often, I come across an incredibly well-written piece that makes me long to be the journalist I used to see myself being.

The following article I received in an email, written by Charlie Reese and was his last published article in the Orlando Sentinel before entering retirement. Mr. Reese writes in such a clear, unbiased, factual manner and should be considered an inspiration for how journalists should work. He writes the way they wrote 49 years ago, when he first started his career, and the way news is to be reported and the way all journalists were actually taught to write and report. If all media was covered in a way that does not bash one party over the other, ridden with opinions and lies, or poorly written and reported , I probably would have put forth more effort in using my degree.

Hats off to you, Mr. Reese, for 49 years of amazing work!

545 vs. 300,000,000 People

-By Charlie Reese





Politicians are the only people in the world who create problems and then

campaign against them.

Have you ever wondered, if both the Democrats and the Republicans are against

deficits, WHY do we have deficits?

Have you ever wondered, if all the politicians are against inflation and high

taxes, WHY do we have inflation and high taxes?

You and I don't propose a federal budget. The President does.

You and I don't have the Constitutional authority to vote on appropriations.

The House of Representatives does.

You and I don't write the tax code, Congress does.

You and I don't set fiscal policy, Congress does.

You and I don't control monetary policy, the Federal Reserve Bank does.


One hundred senators, 435 congressmen, one President, and nine Supreme Court

justices equates to 545 human beings out of the 300 million are directly,

legally, morally, and individually responsible for the domestic problems that

plague this country.


I excluded the members of the Federal Reserve Board because that problem was

created by the Congress. In 1913, Congress delegated its Constitutional duty

to provide a sound currency to a federally chartered, but private, central

bank.

I excluded all the special interests and lobbyists for a sound reason.

They have no legal authority. They have no ability to coerce a senator, a

congressman, or a President to do one cotton-picking thing. I don't care if

they offer a politician $1 million dollars in cash. The politician has the

power to accept or reject it. No matter what the lobbyist promises, it is the

legislator's responsibility to determine how he votes.


Those 545 human beings spend much of their energy convincing you that what

they did is not their fault. They cooperate in this common con regardless of

party.


What separates a politician from a normal human being is an excessive amount

of gall. No normal human being would have the gall of a Speaker, who stood

up and criticized the President for creating deficits. The President can only

propose a budget. He cannot force the Congress to accept it.

The Constitution, which is the supreme law of the land, gives sole

responsibility to the House of Representatives for originating and approving

appropriations and taxes. Who is the speaker of the House?

John Boehner. He is the leader of the majority party. He and fellow House

members, not the President, can approve any budget they want. If the

President vetoes it, they can pass it over his veto if they agree to.


It seems inconceivable to me that a nation of 300 million cannot replace 545

people who stand convicted -- by present facts -- of incompetence and

irresponsibility.. I can't think of a single domestic problem that is not

traceable directly to those 545 people. When you fully grasp the plain truth

that 545 people exercise the power of the federal government, then it must

follow that what exists is what they want to exist.


If the tax code is unfair, it's because they want it unfair.


If the budget is in the red, it's because they want it in the red.


If the Army & Marines are in Iraq and Afghanistan it's because they want them

in Iraq and Afghanistan ...

If they do not receive social security but are on an elite retirement plan

not available to the people, it's because they want it that way.

There are no insoluble government problems.

Do not let these 545 people shift the blame to bureaucrats, whom they hire

and whose jobs they can abolish; to lobbyists, whose gifts and advice they

can reject; to regulators, to whom they give the power to regulate and from

whom they can take this power. Above all, do not let them con you into the

belief that there exists disembodied mystical forces like "the economy,"

"inflation," or "politics" that prevent them from doing what they take an

oath to do.

Those 545 people, and they alone, are responsible.

They, and they alone, have the power.

They, and they alone, should be held accountable by the people who are their

bosses.

Provided the voters have the gumption to manage their own employees...


We should vote all of them out of office and clean up their mess!