Hi Frank.
Cable news has a lot of biases, both liberal networks and conservative ones.
There are different liberal and conservative news sources. I read the Wall Street Journal every day, which is published by the same owners as Fox News. The WSJ articles are well researched and fairly balanced. Fox on the other hand is trash. It really is - the articles are often about individuals: "Joe Blow had this terrible experience at the hands of a Democrat" implying that all Democrats are idiots.
Fox News is toxic and unethical. I am sorry, but it is. But the WSJ is pretty good, even if the columnists are very biased.
Liberal news is very biased. It often assumes certain points of view that are not facts. Mainstream liberal news attempts to be ethical, although it does contain bias.
You are right that the BLM riots that you refer to were horrendous.
The Capitol Riot was horrendous as well. Several people died. There were a lot of clubs, spears, pepper spray (which is dangerous when sprayed in people's face). And it is known that there were weapons caches nearby - a conscious decision was made not to bring them, but they were at the ready. And a group set up a noose, and a mob went looking for Mike Pence - our Vice President.
If this were Russia, all of the Capitol protestors would have been executed on the spot. Thankfully we are not like Russia - yet - but Trump wants us to be more like Russia, so if he gets elected, in the future if people storm the capital in protest against Trump, they _will_ all be shot, because that is what happens in totalitarian states: the president does whatever he wants. Trump himself has recently said flatly that there are no limits to his power as President. That's really scary. That's a Putin.
Patriotism is not about our flag: it is about our Constitution. Our Constitution is the thing that makes our country what it is. When you swear an oath in the military, you swear to protect the Constitution.
During the Capitol riot, the President did nothing - because he _wanted_ people to invade the Capitol. And that same President also took steps in other ways to prevent himself from being removed from office, including arranging for fake electors - to subvert our Constitution. And he called governors to ask them to "find votes". That's a corrupt attempt to stay in power at any cost, even if it means stepping on our Constitution.
I watched Trump go on live TV and speak for half an hour, telling lies about events at an election center that I saw. He told lie after lie, and in an deliberately even tone to sound rational and honest. I saw it with my own eyes. He is a con artist.
The people who rioted at the Capitol were duped, by Trump. I feel they should all be set free, except for those who harmed others. Trump is the one should should be held accountable for what happened. He is the real criminal. Those people who rioted thought they were being patriotic - they believed his lies. In reality, they had all been fooled. I feel bad for them. They all meant well. Trump did not mean well: it was all about him, and staying in power.
If you put it all together, what he did is horrendous. He is an extremely dangerous man. I am very concerned that if he gets elected, he will rally his loyalists and dismantle all of the checks and balances that we have against abuse of power. Project 2025 has me very worried: it is a formula for how to make the US like Russia - totalitarian.
About vaccines, I have some knowledge of vaccines. I have seen how mRNA vaccines are made. I work with those kinds of scientists, and I have studied molecular biology. mRNA vaccines are a breakthrough. They are far safer than earlier types of vaccines, for a number of reasons. They are also more effective. And there are cancer cures in development that will be based on mRNA vaccines, which is very welcome, since cancer is a horrible disease.
Very best,
Cliff
