If you read any news source this morning, you would think the country is, according to the old saw, ‘going to a Hell in a handbasket’.  It reminds me of the time I was in a high school journalism class and we were told that as far as news goes, ‘if it bleeds, it leads!’

            To underline this point, I will take a few stories from today’s headlines.  (July 30, 2021)

  1.  Washington, D. C. mayor Muriel Bowser, just reinstated a mask mandate for everyone over the age of two in all indoor settings, whether vaccinated or not.
  •  The border town of Weslaco, Texas, just found out that 237 illegal immigrants were released into its community, although they had been tested and were positive for COVID-19. 
  • Randi Weingarten, president of the nation’s second largest teachers’ union, claimed that she and the union would “try” to open the nation’s schools on time; this after seemingly saying last month they would.  This continues the uncertainty about our educational system getting back to ‘normal’.
  • Flight attendants report a ‘surge’ in bad behavior by travelers, partly because of the restrictive mask requirements for flying on U. S. carriers.
  • Tokyo’s Olympics have achieved the lowest viewership ratings since Nielson began its ratings.
  • Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi ordered Capitol police to arrest anyone not wearing a mask on her side of the building.  Senators do not have that restriction, yet.
  • Inflation was up 4% over last year, and was the highest jump since 1991.  Energy prices were up 24.2% over 2020.  No end is in sight to this very predictable surge in increases.
  • And in West Hollywood., an Antifa protester, whose group was also protesting an anti-masking protest, was tasered after getting in the face of his opponents.  
  • Political infighting was in the news.  Senator Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) announced that she would not give up her planned vacation in August, thus putting the Democrats’ legislative proposals in jeopardy because this would leave them one vote short of a majority.  And Joe Manchin, Senator from West Virginia, was booed by his colleagues because he mentioned the huge national debt in a Dem caucus.
  1.  President Biden * is telling states and localities to give $100 to entice the unvaccinated to get the ‘jab’.  This is to be allocated from leftover monies in the 1.9 trillion bill the Dems passed on a party line vote in March.  He also mentioned that this might seem ‘unfair’ to those who already are vaccinated.  Really?
  1.   The House voted down the Hyde Amendment in their budget proposal.  This Amcndment kept the federal government from using taxpayers’ money for abortion.  In every budget since 1976 this provision was included in the Congress’ spending plan, but the Democrats deleted it on a straight party line vote, 219-208.  Pro-life Americans are justly upset.
  1.   Biden’s* Department of Justice is also in the news.  Officials are warning Texas not to control their border, as that is the jurisdiction of the federal government.  Gov.  Abbott remarked that if the feds don’t police our immigration problem, the state would.  In addition, the DOJ told states not to change their election process back to pre-pandemic form.  
  1.   And the House’s partisan witchhunt into the January 6 riot at the Capitol continues, with historical ignorance at the forefront.  One statement was that this was the worst attack on the Capitol since the War of 1812, where portions of the Capitol were destroyed as the British attacked.  But bombs were exploded there on 1 March, 1971, November 7, 1983, July 2, 1915 and two Capitol guards were killed when a gunman got deep into the building on July 24, 1998.  How many guns did the ‘rioters’ use on January 6?  How many bombs went off?  

But getting back to the original premise, these are but a few of the stories making up today’s news.  Where is the good news?  As usual, much of the good news is taken for granted or just shunted aside for viewers and readers.

Out here in the great Heartland, churches are having and planning Vacation Bible Schools to teach the great truths of Christianity to the next generation.  On Sunday, millions of Americans will go to their church to listen to Bible teachings and fellowship with fellow worshippers.

Thousands of commercial flights will take place today, and the miracle of flight without accidents is never celebrated.  Many people of different backgrounds live next to each other, shop together, help each other and all this good news is ignored by the media.

This global pandemic is receding, and even if contracted, those who are vaccinated do not face hospitalizations and death as some forecast at its beginnings.  

Thousands of couples are wed each summer, and that news is relegated to the the social pages with a ‘ho-hum’, while one domestic disturbance is printed on the front page.

Families are taking and planning vacations together.  Jobs are plentiful, even if some do not want to work.  The miracle of the Internet is used in most households each day, yet only when something like a power outage occurs is that miracle acknowledged.

I don’t believe we will ever see a balance between good and bad news from our media purveyors, but it would be nice to have a better balance between the good and the bad.