Columnists

On June 6th, Joe Biden officially won the Democratic nomination for President. There's a stark contrast between the style and policies of Biden and the Republican candidate, Donald Trump. At the moment, Trump is the underdog; however, we all remember what happened in 2016. Trump is planning another come-from-behind victory; he's betting that his positions on three national problems will swing the election odds in his favor.

The current Real Clear Politics polling average shows Joe Biden with an eight-point lead over Donald Trump (https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2020/president/us/general_election_trump_vs_biden-6247.html) Most of the swing-state polls also show Biden with a lead; for example, in Pennsylvania, Biden has a 3 point edge over Trump.

The Trump campaign is betting that, over the next 140+ days, Donald's contrarian positions on three national problems will favor his candidacy: 1. Nothing will come of the death of George Floyd and the associated protests. 2. The pandemic will fade away. 3. The U.S. economy will bounce back from recession -- there will be a "V-shaped" recovery. -more-

On May 8, 2020, California Governor Gavin Newsom started reopening the California economy. On May 25, after the Memorial Day weekend, California had its highest one-day total of 2,565 new positive COVID-19 cases. There were similar spikes in many other states due to re-openings and the disregard of social distancing and wearing of masks over the long holiday weekend.

In addition, there are now continuing nationwide protests of George Floyd’s in-custody death by Minneapolis police, where masks are not always worn and social distancing is not always observed. It takes up to fourteen days after exposure to the virus for respiratory symptoms to appear. Soon then, California and other states can expect more significant spikes of infections as a result of the protests. -more-

And Look Both Ways Before Crossing the Street

In these troubled times, KCBS has been broadcasting the following uplifting media meme: "We're not afraid to look backward to move forward."

(Warning: Don't apply this advice when you're out jogging.)

SWAT the People

There are too far many TV shows that glorify police violence, intelligence investigator interrogations, and soldiers fighting people-of-color/"terrorists" in far-off countries. (At the core of these testosterone-fueled fantasies you can find a common message that is shared with TV shows featuring doctors, hospitals, and firefighters. The message: viewers must live in constant fear of sudden death—from some random attack or disease—and your only security lies in submitting to and trusting "the authorities.")

Given the current state of alarm over police violence, it's no surprise that Paramount Television recently canceled “Cops,” a wildly popular reality show that aired for 33 seasons. Civil rights groups had repeatedly faulted the show for it's negative portrayal of African-Americans and other people-of-color.

So, with Paramount's prized Blue Tribute de-cop-itated, what does that leave on TV? A quick survey of our local networks reveals the two broadcasters with the most violent content.

The most violent displays of fist-fights and gunfire can be found on channel 5/KPIX, which airs: Survivor, SEAL Team, SWAT, NCIS: LA, NCIS New Orleans, NCIS, FBI, FBI Most Wanted, Hawaii 50, and Blue Bloods. (Six, a violent legacy series based on the Pentagon's Seal Team 6, debuted on the History channel in 2016.) -more-