#996: Is There "Good News Tonight?"

Back in the days when the biggest voices in radio (both before and behind the microphone) were Orson Welles, Edward R. Murrow, Eric Sevareid, and Norman Corwin (who actually befriended me when he was in the last decade of his long, long life), there was the Mutual Radio Network’s Gabriel Heatter. Like Corwin (1910-2011), Heatter (1890-1972) was the child of Jewish immigrants who knew from earliest childhood, that he wanted to be a writer.

Like all radio news reporters of the time, Heatter developed a slogan by which his broadcasts could be immediately identified. His was “There’s good news tonight!” During the darkest, most dangerous days (and nights) of World War II, Heatter’s task was to bring a ray of optimism to an otherwise petrifying world. Now mind you, Heatter wasn’t just blowing smoke; his genius came in identifying strands of optimism within the fabric of impenetrable darkness, thereby giving his millions of listeners the one thing they needed most: hope for the future.

Sad to say, there are few - if indeed any - Gabriel Heatter’s around anymore. Let’s face it, as good as Lester Holt, Ali Velshi are, and Diane Sawyer and Katie Couric were, putting one’s trust in any journalist is a tough task. Perhaps it’s due to corporate America putting mega-profits ahead of Fourth Estate principles; then too, perhaps the rise of social media (the modern-day version of the “Shoot-out at the OK Corral”), the 24-hour news cycle . . . the very nature of world events . . . have made honest, illuminating reportage as incomprehensible as an Ibsen drama. (BTW: my use of the term “24-hour news cycle”) is not about the fact that news goes on 24 hours a day. Rather, it is that quite frequently, today’s above-the-fold page one headline is, as Grandpa Doc would have had it “pushed back to page 37 just beneath the truss adds” by the end of the day.)

Nonetheless, if Gabriel Heatter was alive and announcing the news yesterday, today, and even tomorrow, he might honestly begin his newscast with his signature line about there being “Good News Tonight!” Then again, he just might end his program with an expression taught to him by his Yiddish-speaking parents, Henry and Anna (Fischman) Heatter: Vey iz mir!

First, 3 news stories that should give us a bit of encouragement about the future:

Voters in Iran have given a decisive win to reformist candidate Dr. Masoud Pezeshkian in the runoff election to replace the late President Ebrahim Raisi, who was killed in a helicopter crash in May. Iranian president-elect Pezeshkian, a heart surgeon and lawmaker who ran on a moderately reformist platform, was a relatively little-known candidate. But voters turned out in larger numbers than in round one, giving him more than 2.8 million votes over hard-line conservative Saeed Jalili, a former nuclear negotiator with strong anti-West views. Dr. Pezeshkian campaigned on a promise to engage more with the outside world. He is also likely to appoint moderate cabinet ministers. But overall, the newly elected president's proposals are modest, showing no inclination to push for significant changes to a government that leaves all important matters of state to Supreme Leader Ayatolla Ali Khamenei. “Dear people of Iran, the elections are over and this is just the beginning of our cooperation,” the doctor wrote on the social platform X, which is still banned in Iran. “The difficult path ahead will not be smooth except with your companionship, empathy, and trust. I extend my hand to you and I swear on my honor that I will not leave you alone on this path. Do not leave me alone.”

In France, the country’s far-right National Rally (RN), lead by the 28-year old Jordan Bardella, was widely expected to win a “snap election.” Instead they were beaten into third place. The left-wing New Popular Front (NFP) won 182 seats, while President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist Ensemble alliance won 163 seats. National Rally (RN) won the first round of this election, and all the opinion polls since then predicted victory in the run-off round.

Instead, France now faces a hung parliament with no party having anything like a majority.

French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal (1985- )

RN leader Jordan Bardella blamed "unnatural political alliances" for stopping their rise to power. 34-year old Prime Minister Gabriel Attal (the son of a French-Tunisian Jewish father), who was appointed by President Macron only seven months ago, said he would hand in his resignation in the morning, although he pointed out that his Ensemble alliance were on course to win three times the number of seats that had been forecast. (As of 10:00 EDT, President Macron has asked his young P.M. to remain in office at least for now, in order to maintain political stability.)

Does that mean the NFP “won” the election? Not quite. Although the coalition has the most seats, it fell well short of the 289 seats required for an absolute majority, meaning France now has a hung parliament. If this was a victory for anything, it was the “cordon sanitaire,” the principle that mainstream parties must unite to prevent the extreme right from taking office. (BTW: Here in America, somewhat unsurprisingly, MAGA loyalists lashed out at the shocking results of the French parliamentary elections, saying the far right was "cheated" out of victory.)

And then there is the U.K., where official election results this past Friday showed a landslide victory for the country’s center-left Labour Party — its first victory in 19 years, since under the leadership of Tony Blair. The incoming Prime Minister Sir Keir Rodney Starmer, KCB KC, hailed his win as historic, saying early Friday: “Change begins now.” Later Friday, he gave his first speech outside the prime minister's residence at 10 Downing Street, saying, he will lead a “government of service” on a “mission of national renewal” and promised to "rebuild Britain." For the Conservatives — the party of Margaret Thatcher, Boris Johnson and outgoing Prime Minister Rishi Sunak — it was the worst defeat in their party’s nearly 200-year history. Prominent lawmakers including former Prime Minister Liz Truss, Jacob Rees-Mogg and Penny Mordaunt lost their seats in Parliament. Sunak retained his seat but resigned Friday as Conservative Party leader, and apologized to the country. “I am sorry. I have given this job my all but you have sent a clear signal, that the government of the United Kingdom must change,” Sunak told reporters as he and his wife left the prime minister’s residence at 10 Downing Street for the last time. “I have heard your anger, your disappointment and I take responsibility for this loss.”

Oh that we could have such gentility and civility here on our side of the pond!

So much for “There’s good news tonight!” Now on to our final - and most fearfully challenging development . . . the one that would likely garner that Vey iz mir! from the long-departed Mr. Heatter.

Let us turn our attention to that which will pass for the GOP “non-official-official” Party Platform for 2024:

PROJECT 2025

Giving a terse explanation of precisely what “Project 2025” is, what it contains, what its aims are who created it, and for what purpose, is about as easy as defining the one-syllable Yiddish word mentsch to a person who knows virtually nothing about Jews, Jewish culture or Yiddish. Broadly speaking, “Project 2025” is a political manifesto created by the “sages and scholars” of MAGA Mania, the not-for-profit Heritage Foundation. Founded slightly more than a half-century ago (1973 to be precise), the Heritage Foundation describes its mission as “ . . . formulating and promoting conservative public policies based on the principles of free enterprise, limited government, individual freedom, traditional American values, and a strong national defense.” So far, so good; sounds pretty benign. But it is so very, very much more . . . and very, very much less. Founded and funded during the latter Nixon Administration by the likes of Paul Weyrich, Edwin Feulner, and beer baron Joseph Coors. had long played a leading role in the rightward turn in American politics over the last many decades.

The Heritage Foundation has been a fervent opponent of the Kyoto Protocol and its online database of “policy experts” includes many climate change skeptics such as Patrick Michaels, Sallie Baliunas, Thomas Gale Moore, Robert Balling, and Fred Singer.

The Heritage Foundation has had overwhelming influence over Republican politicians. It is estimated that two-thirds of the policy recommendations it made in 1981 were adopted by the Reagan Administration. The Heritage Foundation has been described as “the most effective media operation in American politics,” and is a fervent opponent of the Kyoto Protocol and has long worked to privatize the federal government.

History has long been shaped and misshaped by manifestos such as Thomas Paine’s all-time best-selling tract Common Sense (1776), Edmund Burke’s Reflections on the Revolution in France (1790), The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx & Friedrich Engels (1848), Animal Farm by George Orwell (1946) and Silent Spring by Rachel Carson (1962). Each, in their own time, spearheaded a major change in modern human history. And now we have - for better or for worse, Project 2025, written by not by a single man or woman, but rather, by hundreds of people engaged in the fields of political science, economics, religious history, and other assorted fields. Indeed, Project 2025 (officially known as A Mandate for Leadership) is an immensely long and wordy read: more than 920 pages . . . which I am sure Donald Trump has never read. Not surprisingly when asked if he was familiar with Project 2025, Trump claimed he had never heard of it . . . which hardly passed the smell test. Then too, he has, when asked, claimed to have never had any knowledge of - or contact with - Paul Manafort, Stormy Daniels, or dozens of other people who have played significant roles in his life.

In essence, Project 2025 seeks to greatly enhance Executive Branch powers even as it greatly diminishes that which the legislative branch can do:

Changing how the FBI operates. According to the plan, the agency is "completely out of control," and the next conservative administration should restore its reputation by stopping investigations that are supposedly "unlawful or contrary to the national interest." Also, the document calls for legislation that would eliminate term limits for the FBI's director and require that person to answer to the president.

Eliminating the Department of Education. The plan explicitly proposes, "Federal education policy should be limited and, ultimately, the federal Department of Education should be eliminated." The report also calls for bans on so-called "critical race theory" (CRT) and "gender ideology" lessons in public schools, asking for legislation that would require educators who share such material to register as sex offenders and be imprisoned.
Defunding the Department of Justice. Additionally, the document proposes prosecuting federal election-related charges as criminal, not civil, cases. Otherwise, the document says, "[Voter] registration fraud and unlawful ballot correction will remain federal election offenses that are never appropriately investigated and prosecuted."
Reversing Biden-era policies attempting to reduce climate change. The document's authors call for increasing the country's reliance on fossil fuels and withdrawing from efforts to address the climate crisis — such as "offices, programs, and directives designed to advance the Paris Climate Agreement."
Stopping cybersecurity efforts to combat mis- and disinformation. The document recommends the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency to stop its efforts to curtail online propaganda campaigns, arguing the federal government should not make judgment calls on what's true and what isn't.
Changing immigration policies. Authors want the federal government to deprioritize DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals), the program that temporarily delays the deportation of immigrants without documentation who came to the U.S. as children; phase out temporary work-visa programs that allow seasonal employers to hire foreign workers; impose financial punishments on so-called "sanctuary cities" that do not follow federal immigration laws, and divert tax dollars toward security at America's border with Mexico. (While the Biden campaign claims Project 2025 calls for "ripping mothers away from their children" at the border, there's no explicit mention of separating families. Rather, it calls for stronger enforcement of laws governing the detainment of immigrants with criminal records and restricting an existing program that tracks people in deportation proceedings instead of incarcerating them. In some cases, those changes could possibly play a role in border control agents detaining a parent while their child continues with immigration proceedings.)
Restricting access to abortion. The plan wants the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to stop promoting abortion as health care. Additionally, Project 2025 recommends the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) to stop promoting, and approving, requests for manufacturing abortion pills. "Alternative options to abortion, especially adoption, should receive federal and state support," the document states.
Removing LGBTQ+ protections. The plan calls for abolishing the Gender Policy Council, a Biden-created department within the White House that aims to "advance equity in government policy for those who face discrimination." Also, the proposal wants the federal government to remove terms such as "sexual orientation" and "gender identity" from records and policies, as well as rescind policies that prohibit discrimination on the basis of "sexual orientation, gender identity, transgender status, and sex characteristics."

The Democrats, acutely aware of what the Heritage Foundation has in mind for creating an imperial presidency, has launched a task force to start fighting the proposal and stop it from taking hold if the Republican former president returns to power.

Democratic Rep. Jared Huffman of California is unveiling The Stop Project 2025 Task Force last June 11 on Tuesday, the latest sign that congressional Democrats and outside groups are treating Trump’s campaign seriously in the expected rematch against Democratic President Joe Biden this fall. “The stakes just couldn’t be higher,” Huffman told The Associated Press. Huffman said the Project 2025 agenda will hit “like a Blitzkrieg” and lawmakers need to be ready. “If we’re trying to react to it and understand it in real time, it’s too late,” he said. “We need to see it coming well in advance and prepare ourselves accordingly.”

Before you go jumping off the sidewalk please know that an increasing number of Republicans - although not joining Rep. Huffman’s taskforce - are distancing themselves from the Project 2025 manifesto. Even they sense that this could lead to utter defeat - bringing what transpired in French, British and even Iranian elections - to American in November 2024. Do remember, regardless of whatever party or persuasion you pay fealty to, there is one overarching principle: you must be reelected if you wish to continue playing a role. This nefarious project must be kept before the public every minute of every day from now until November. It is a manifesto no one can abide . . . even those who think Donald Trump is the second coming.

In sum, as bad as things may seem - and they are quite foul - it is just possible that this past week can help turn vey iz mir into es iz gut nayes haynt bay nakht“ namely, “There’s good news tonight.”

Gabrielle Heatter would be proud . . .