Minnesota Senator Al Franken with Marijuana Venture publisher Greg James.
To those who are still scratching their heads about Donald Trump winning the presidency, fake news and dozens upon dozens of scandals, I simply say this: Thank god for The New York Times and the rest of the real journalists that still report on real stories.
As I started writing this month’s editorial, Bill O’Reilly had just been fired by Fox News. And the biggest reason was the explosive, well-researched piece in The New York Times exposing the $13 million paid to numerous women who had accused O’Reilly of sexual harassment. Naturally, he claimed he was a “target” because of his stature, but anyone with a lick of sense would know what a crock of bull that is. (For example, why hasn’t Sean Hannity, another famous Fox mouth, been sued?)
Frankly, I find O’Reilly’s ilk, and the rest of the far-right media, repulsive. They’re certainly smart enough to know their form of news is mostly lies cooked up to appeal to the feeble-minded, yet it doesn’t bother them. In other words, they’ll take the cash and harm the United States without a second thought. We almost certainly ended up with Trump and all the idiots he’s appointed to important positions because of the never-ending garbage spewed forth by Fox News, Breitbart News and the far-right radio jocks who have no qualms preaching to gullible dimwits. Obama born in Africa? 9/11 was a government job? The Clinton child sex scandal? The Pope endorsed Trump? Sure, and the moon is made of cheese.
If you need further proof of the type of crap the fake news types on the right spew out of their pie holes on daily basis, take time to research Alex Jones’ custody battle. The well-known, right-wing radio host, who has millions of followers (including Donald Trump), is in a nasty custody battle with his ex-wife. His own attorney, in a statement to the judge, stated in no uncertain terms that Jones is a “performance” artist. That same attorney told the court that Jones doesn’t actually believe any of the loony conspiracy theories he regularly pushes on people. “It’s all an act,” the attorney told the judge. I guess when push comes to shove in a courtroom, Jones had to admit he’s a liar and a fake (and that he occasionally smokes pot, purely to “monitor its strength”).
Why does this matter to the legal marijuana community? Because folks like Jones helped get Trump elected, then Trump appointed Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who has the look and demeanor of a cop straight out of “Leave it to Beaver” from the 1950s.
Sessions can — and very well may — wreak havoc on the legal marijuana community despite the well-established evidence in both Washington and Colorado that legalizing recreational cannabis for adults is much smarter than prohibition. My advice: Go subscribe to The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Economist, The Atlantic or some other “real” source of news. Support these businesses and be damn glad this country still has some really good investigative reporters. Those reporters are the only thing between us and a government that is rapidly starting to resemble a third-world kleptocracy run by dorks elected by the gullible.
Greg James
Publisher
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