There is a longstanding tradition of blaming the messenger when the news is unpleasant.
To avoid that, there is a faction among the messengers who would put a positive spin on even the worst news. Think of the apocryphal man asking Abraham Lincoln’s wife “Besides that (your husband being shot during a performance at Ford’s Theatre) how did you like the play Mrs. Lincoln?”
Political mouthpieces in this country have elevated to an art form such verbal misdirection away from unpleasant news. But some unlikely sources, such as media members, are gaining on them.
Think of that widely lampooned CNN report on “mostly peaceful” protests, which was given against a background of video showing burning cars and buildings.
It makes me wonder exactly what sort of world these positive spin people inhabit. And that prompted a thought experiment, to attempt to find something positive about news — locally, nationally or internationally — from recent days.
Another Johnstown resident has been shot and killed by an out-of-towner . . .
. . . but at least the alleged shooter has been caught.
Our local Mill Rats baseball team has lost 13 of its past 14 games . . .
. . . but they scored a run in the Sunday loss.
The Pittsburgh Pirates have descended to fourth place in the NL Central after masquerading as division contenders earlier this season . . .
. . . but there was a win Sunday to warm the cockles of fans’ hearts during the All-Star break.
Even the leftist New York Times has called out Joe Biden for excluding Hunter’s illegitimate child as one of Joe’s seven (not six) grandchildren . . .
. . . but at least Joe ostensibly remembers the other six without a written cheat sheet.
Bud Light’s Woke embrace has seen the beer brand fall from ninth to 15th on a list of most popular beers in the United States . . .
. . . dare we dream this is an early indicator that U.S. consumers are sick of having Woke propaganda shoved down their throats in the form of advertisements?
The New York Post and Business Insider separately have reported a rise in dumpster diving by consumers trying to cope with mounting food bills, even as Google reported searches for “pawn shop near me” at a record high . . .
. . . but the unemployment rates, inexplicably, continue to be reported as at or near record lows.
Paris, and France in general, continue to simmer with riots and violence, even as President Emmanuel Macron calls for bans on public demonstrations and social media shutdowns . . .
. . . but the French still make some fine wine.
Sam Ross Jr's site 