Mass Media IN Politics Again

             A plan proposed by Democrats in a House committee with the purpose of lowering the cost of prescription drugs, one part of their $3.5 trillion policy proposal, failed on September 14th, 2021. After three moderate Democrats and every Republican in that House committee refused their support, along with the pharmaceutical industry. Does the failure of this drug prices plan indicate more serious challenges around drug prices and healthcare costs? Looking at the discourse surrounding the issue on Twitter from prominent House members and political groups, I would say yes.  The reason this points to larger problems for passing legislation can be seen all over Twitter, beginning with the words of the former Secretary of Labor, Robert Reich: " Always follow the money ." On the issue of healthcare reform as a whole, these words speak volumes of the actions of Congresspeople. Between those that support, and those who do not supp...

 In the wake of a chaotic recall election in the state of California featuring the sitting governor, Gavin Newsom, has gotten even messier. As of now, the results have overwhelmingly been in favor of not recalling Newsom, but that isn't without controversy as to how the election was conducted. Larry Elder, the presumed Republican nominee gunning for Newsom's seat, and prominent supporter of former president Donald Trump has several issues with this election. In an article written by Daniel Dale , an editor for CNN, he reports that Elder's campaign plans to promote a petition “demanding a special session of the California legislature to investigate and ameliorate the twisted results of this 2021 Recall Election of Governor Gavin Newsom". This all being announced before the results of the election have even been concluded.  In an even crazier report from Brian Tyler Cohen , Larry Elder's campaign launched an "anti-voter fraud website that accidentally already ...

 What is the focus of prominent politicians on Twitter in this week of September 5th?  With Labor Day Weekend, wildfires and recall election in California, Texas abortion laws, rapidly rising COVID cases, aftermath of Hurricane Ida, the crisis in Afghanistan, and the upcoming 20th year anniversary of 9/11 , where are we? There are so many pressing domestic and international problems going on, it makes it difficult to even log into Twitter. What is clear is the stark difference in coverage from both the left and right.  Seen on my Twitter page ( @EllisonRemy ), following prominent activists, journalists, and politicians on the left and right its easy to begin making general groupings of where focuses lie between the two parties. When looking at prominent Twitter pages associated with the Democrats you see messages focused on climate change , reversing the abortion law in Texas , and the recall election in California. What is interesting to note about these examples and ma...

To shift away from the events unfolding in Afghanistan, this week I'll be talking about the still ever-present COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S. Not so much the rising case numbers, hospitalizations, new treatments, or hospital capacities, but more on the discourse of governmental officials and how it has or hasn't changed. What is interesting about following many prominent Governors, Senators, and Representatives on Twitter, is seeing just how their language has changed or stayed the same over time. In addition to the retweets corresponding to this blog post found on my Twitter ( @EllisonRemy ) profile, I also will reference a news article from The Hill https://thehill.com/homenews/house/564601-gops-shift-on-vaccines-is-source-of-tension-for-democrats .  As this pandemic has raged on for over a year now, so has the tensions between the appropriate ways to stop it. From this, we see news almost every day about what this Senator said, or what that governor did, really only to add t...