Grumpy Editor

NATIONAL GUARD TROOPS DIRECTED TO COLD WASHINGTON GARAGE TO REST

 

National Guard members camping in a cold parking garage is something one might see in a third world country --- but it happened in Washington, D.C. where 26,000 Guard members from around the country were deployed to help inauguration activities, notes Grumpy Editor.

 

The National Guard said it moved troops from the Capitol building and other spaces for rest breaks to the garage at the behest of Capitol Police.  It was a crowded scene.

 

Following settling in the garage, it later was announced that nearly 200 Guard members in the Capitol tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

 

Lawmakers from both political parties, noting reports of the undesirable garage rest area (without cots), intervened, allowing Guard members to return to indoor spaces.

 

Capitol Police and National Guard officials offered conflicting explanations on why troops were moved to the parking garage.

 

Most called-up National Guard soldiers hold full-time civilian jobs.

 

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE…

 

FIRST DOGS RETURN TO WHITE HOUSE.  Canines are back in the White House.  After a four-year hiatus, dogs are back.  President Joe Biden brings in two German shepherds, including one adopted from an animal shelter in 2018.

 

BETTY WHITE REACHES 99.  Actress Betty White marks her birthday by commenting:  “Since I am turning 99, I can stay up as late as I want without asking permission” and later went outside to feed a pair of ducks that frequent home.”

 

GRAY WHALES EBB.  The population of gray whales off the West Coast has dropped nearly one-quarter since 2016, reports NOAA Fisheries.

 

CARGO SHIP LOSES CONTAINERS.  A Maersk cargo ship with more than 13,000 containers, loses about 750 of them in heavy seas half-way to Los Angeles from China. 

 

PANDEMIC BOOSTS HOME SALES.  The pandemic is giving a boost to home sales, surging last year to the highest level in 14 years. Existing home sales reached 5.64 million in 2020, up 5.6 percent from the prior year.

 

PRINT BOOK SALES RISE.  BookScan says print book sales rise 8.2 percent last year, largest annual increase since 2010, despite deep concern over supply chain issues and early spring pandemic-induced store lockdowns. A prolonged decline never came, as online sales and sales through non-book store outlets more than offset declines at physical bookstores.

BEE POPULATION DECREASES.  Researchers say bee species around the world are facing major declines and are warning time is running out to save them, adding up to 25 percent of known bee species haven't been reported in global records since the 1990s. There are over 20,000 known bee species around the world.

GANNETT REBOUNDS.  Gannett reports better than expected fourth-quarter revenue and adjusted earnings, showing what it called a "rebound" as the company's digital subscription strategy gains momentum. Gannett owns USA TODAY, about 260 other daily publications, hundreds of weeklies, a marketing services division and an events business. 

Puzzling AP story cites Romney’s ‘military background’

A lengthy Associated Press story that noted Mitt Romney’s “military background is facing new scrutiny as he courts veterans and makes his case to be commander in chief” is puzzling, notes Grumpy Editor, because the Republican presidential candidate, as with President Barack Obama, never served in the military. 

One newspaper, for example, picked up the military angle (when there wasn’t one) yesterday with this headline over a hefty half-page spread: 

Romney’s military

past under scrutiny

That should be news to Romney since he never wore a military uniform. 

Steve Peoples, AP’s national political reporter, mentioned Romney “avoided military service at the height of the (Vietnam War) fighting after high school by seeking and receiving four draft deferments.” 

Nothing unusual there. 

As accorded to others at the time, deferments stemmed from attending college and later as “a minister of religion or divinity student” while Romney was in France working as a Mormon missionary. 

Near the end of the AP piece, Peoples wrote, “Some veterans say Romney’s reluctance to serve irks them,” then ran a quote from  someone who served in Vietnam who said, “I volunteered for the draft.” 

But no one volunteers for the draft.  

A draft, if  held today, would continue to use a lottery to determine order of call. 

While the U.S. military has been all volunteer since the discontinuance of mandatory conscription in 1973, young men 18 through 25 still are required to sign up with the Selective Service System --- just in case the draft resurfaces.

 

Expect 1992 L.A. riots anniversary coverage in print, TV

With many print/broadcast editors ever craving for anniversary stories --- partially because it’s an easy way to fill chunks of editorial space around ads or chew up TV time --- look for lengthy pieces through Sunday on the 1992 Los Angeles riots, predicts Grumpy Editor. 

Editors get especially excited when recycling anniversary events that include elements that grab attention. 

The April 29, 1992 L.A. unrest coverage included images of police actions, fires, smoke, looters storming supermarkets and TV stores --- even National Guard troops getting into the fray. 

The 1992 rioting broke out after a jury acquitted four Los Angeles Police Department officers accused in the videotaped beating of black motorist Rodney King after a high-speed pursuit. 

Reappearance of that footage is likely to be seen on TV. 

The rioting over five days resulted in about $1 billion in property damage, 63 deaths and thousands injured. 

Also look for King to appear in interviews.  He’s making the rounds pitching the book, “The Riot Within:  My Journey from Rebellion to Redemption,” coauthored with Lawrence J. Spagnola, that debuted this week.

 

Memorial Day remembers fallen American troops

Today’s observance means more than backyard barbecues and store sales, reminds Grumpy Editor who is taking the day off.

Originally called Decoration Day, many people observe Memorial Day by visiting memorials and especially Veterans Administration national cemeteries where commemorative events honor American men and women who died in service during wartime periods.

 

National Guard troops to U.S.-Mexico border a PR stunt?

Announcement that the president is ordering 1,200 National Guard troops “to boost security along the U.S.-Mexico border” received heavy front-page treatment yesterday with headlines such as “Obama Reinforces Border,” observes Grumpy Editor.

Some readers undoubtedly envisioned rifle-toting, steel-helmeted troops soon patrolling 24 hours a day in efforts to plug the porous border and nail drug carriers and illegal entrants.

Not so, however.

Most editors, not seeking solid details, went along with the basic White House announcement.

But it caught the attention of Sen. John McCain (R., Ariz.).  From the Senate floor he declared the presidential order was “clearly a PR stunt,” pointing out the troops will have desk jobs.

Sure enough.  The troops will not act in a law-enforcement capacity. 

Their tasks will be to work on intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance support, analysis and training.

The National Guard will --- for an undetermined period --- supplement the Border Patrol and Customs until additional agents are recruited and trained for the vast border that extends from California through Arizona and New Mexico to Texas.

“A military official said details were still being worked out on the troops’ orders and destinations, adding that the timing of their deployment was not yet clear,” according to Associated Press.

Also there was no indication on types of National Guard units to be called up and their home states.

In other words, no official input on who, when or where.