California follies: How to get a straight answer
Editor’s note: The powers that be at WND.com have told Michael Ackley he may submit the occasional column. As Golden State madness has accelerated, Ackley continues to give in to the urge to stay in the game. Hence, the items below. Remember that his columns may include satire and parody based on current events, and thus mix fact with fiction. He assumes informed readers will be able to tell the difference.
A weary Howard Bashford trudged up his garden walk, exhausted by the pressures of his job.
Bashford, sub-associate assistant director of the Secret Service, had spent hours testifying before a congressional committee, and was looking forward to a quiet evening.
But before he could enter his home, his wife accosted him from the front porch.
“Howard,” she snapped, “the garage is still a mess. Which of our kids did you tell to clean it out today?”
“I’ll have to investigate,” Bashford replied. “I won’t assign blame otherwise.”
“You did tell one of them to do it, didn’t you?” asked the wife.
“This is a complex matter, and I can’t rush to judgment,” he answered.
“Did you direct one of them? Yes or no!” pressed his spouse.
“It’s not a yes-or-no question,” Bashford said.
And she replied, “It’s yes-or-no, or you don’t get dinner.”
Journalists beware: Scribes, lock your doors; secure your wallets; count the silverware. The California Legislature is out to protect you.
At any rate, so the authors of Assembly Bill 886 would have you believe. Anti-886 commercials have been appearing on television, without much explanation, so we did a bill search via the Legislature’s fine web site.
We learned the title of this bill is the “California Journalism Preservation Act.” It would require Internet “platforms” like Google and Meta to pay for access to “digital journalism providers.” Understandably, Big Tech doesn’t like it. On the other hand, some news organizations appear open to the idea of getting paid by Big Tech.
This bill totals more than 6,000 words, an effusion that certainly means something inimical is buried within. AB 886 demands money from the big, on-line “platforms;” it demands detailed accounting from journalism providers; it has government, in essence, policing relationships among segments of the free press.
Do what you will, “journalism providers.” But when Big Government (is there any other kind?) offers to help preserve journalism, and, stipulates that it will help you manage the money, proceed with caution.
Perjury? When I was a federal courts reporter, I was sure I heard an FBI agent lying on the witness stand. Apparently the judge agreed there were irregularities and dismissed the case.
The next time I saw an FBI man lie was in late July, when agency Director Christopher Wray testified to a congressional committee. He said it was “unclear” that former President Trump had been struck by a bullet. It might have been shards of glass, he lied.
The prevarication was to diminish the seriousness of the assassin’s attack. It was a small lie, perhaps, but under oath.
For the sake of argument, let us agree with presidential Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre’s that Kamala Harris was not in charge of our southern border. Jean-Pierre argued the vice president was a kind of super diplomat, assigned to solve the “root causes” of migration.
Harris’ charge was to alleviate factors like poverty, political corruption and violence in such nations as El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala and Venezuela.
Let us imagine our super-diplomat in discussion with the president of any of these nations:
Harris: “Mr. President, would you please stop being corrupt, so your people will become economically secure and free from violence?
The president: “No.”
Well, she can say she tried.
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