All in the political party
The three broadcast networks, ABC, CBS and NBC, combined to give Republican President Donald Trump's recent trip to India less than one minute of coverage last week. In contrast, when former Democratic President Barack Obama visited there in 2010, the networks gave him more than 20 times as much coverage (18.5 minutes).
NBC and ABC allotted 13 and 15 seconds to the current president's trip, while extravagant CBS permitted 23 seconds and at least mentioned the president's trade negotiations there.
All three networks provided full-length reports on Obama's trip, with ABC and NBC leading off two nights each with the story. NBC even covered first lady Michelle Obama playing hopscotch with Indian children.
One of the brief reports on the trip of Trump and his wife, Melania, who visited the Taj Mahal, felt it necessary to mention that Trump had once opened a casino with the name Taj Mahal.
AOC's slamming door
Democratic politicians in New York may not have to defeat U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-New York, to get rid of her. A New York Post editorial last week hinted that if New York loses a seat in the House following redistricting following the 2020 Census, some of her fellow Democrats may squeeze her out.
The editorial said the freshman representative has been in "hot water" with some in the party over her refusal "to pay dues to her caucus' fundraising arm, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee." But she didn't just not pay her dues, she also donated money to the end of "defeating Democrats."
To date, Ocasio-Cortez's own political action committee (PAC) has sought to support challengers "who refused to bow to establishment pressure." To date, the PAC has endorsed four progressive candidates seeking to unseat four incumbent Democrats and two others running against Republicans.
"Don't be surprised," the editorial warned, "when the established Democrats who'll control redistricting after the 2020 Census do their best to eliminate her seat."
Mouth faster than brain?
Democratic presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden, 77, has climbed aboard the gaffe train again. The public, after three-plus years of President Donald Trump's blustery talk and blurring of the facts, may not care anymore what comes out of a politician's mouth as long as the politician accomplishes what voters want.
But concerns have risen again about the candidate's age and mental health.
Biden's most recent string included Friday's statement that he would "appoint" the first black woman to the "Senate." He probably meant to the Supreme Court since he made that promise fairly recently.
In the Democratic primary debate in South Carolina last week, he claimed that 150 million Americans had died from gun violence since 2007. According to the federal government, some 156,000 people have died from firearm-related homicides over that period.
Earlier last week, Biden claimed to be a "candidate for the United States Senate" and that people could "vote for the other Biden" if they didn't like him. Who that person might be was not clear.
And, later that day, he boasted that he had worked on the 2016 Paris Climate Accord with Deng Xiaoping, the former Chinese leader who has been dead for more than 20 years.
Just a random grouping
To those who question whether there might be occasional bias in public education, we point you to a recent advanced placement history course at Loch Raven High School in Towson, Maryland, where a photo of President Donald Trump was shown atop photos of a Nazi swastika and a flag of the Soviet Union.
The captions read "wants to round up a group of people and build a giant wall" and "oh, THAT is why it sounds so familiar."
The school said the specific slide was not a part of the resources that were provided to AP history teachers, and the school district said the issue "will be appropriately addressed by the school administration and is not subject to further clarification."
However, the district also reacted as if it were all a misunderstanding."The topics being discussed in the class," its statement read, "included World Wars and the attempts by some leaders throughout history to limit or prevent migration into certain countries. In isolation and out of context with the lesson, the image could be misunderstood."
State Del. Kathy Szeliga was none too happy about the incident.
"It's horrific," she told a meeting of the county's delegation. "It is education malfeasance."