Here are my observations and opinions on selected news items of the day.

COULD IT BE TRUE that the “Crisis-driven media is losing fight,” as one of its own wrote in an opinion column appearing the left-leaning Arizona Republic?

Chuck Todd, host of NBC’s Meet the Press, “wonders if Americans are even listening anymore,” according to Republic columnist Jon Gabriel, who writes that Todd is concerned that “the collective mainstream media’s coverage of Trump has turned into white noise for the public.”

“I do feel like we have to calibrate our outrage,” said Todd, pointing out that the media is too addicted to outrage, cranking every story up to 11 … resulting in a ‘tuned-out citizenry.’  “When everything is a crisis, nothing is,” said Gabriel.

I was amused to read that Gabriel, as I have, referred to “Chicken-Little and the sky is falling” to describe the breathless reporting of the media, causing average Americans to just roll their eyes.

“Voters need White House reporters to separate the serious issues from the merely annoying,” wrote Gabriel, “every story isn’t an 11.”

It’s almost too good to believe. Today’s media, whom I refer to as the sour-grapes opposition media, churn out negative news on the president and his administration non-stop. The Media Research Center once revealed it was in excess of 90 percent negative.

I’m not holding my breath, but wouldn’t it be refreshing if journalists could find the key out of death’s door in 2019?

Today’s media response to the Trump administration has made everyone forget that of the Nixon era when former Vice President Spiro Agnew referred to them as “nattering nabobs of negativism,” adding that “They have formed their own 4-H club – the hopeless, hysterical, hypochondriacs of history.”

A ‘DEPLORABLE’ GETS IT – In a letter to the editor of the Arizona Republic, Leon Ceniceros of Mesa, Arizona, wrote how TV news, newspapers, the Democratic Party, the RINO Republication establishment and the government “swamp” have waged a non-stop war of words against the president since June 16, 2015 when he announced his candidacy.

“Think of it,” he writes, “for the past three years, these Trump-haters have attacked every deed, word and gesture of this man. You can turn on CNN and MSNBC at 3 a.m. and the moderator is trashing Trump. It never stops, 24/7.”

Ceniceros’ concern echoes mine and the complaints NBC’s Chuck Todd is receiving from his network audience.

BREAKING NEWS – Chuck Todd’s NBC tweeted a criticism that President Trump didn’t visit troops overseas at Christmastime. You have to believe they wrote that a week ago. The president and first lady were in the air flying to Iraq on Christmas and visited with troops on the day after amid a colorfully decorated mess hall. So far, NBC hasn’t apologized for the fake news, but will probably eventually say, ‘well he wasn’t there on Christmas Day.’  Trump cannot win. Incidentally, about a week ago I told Mrs. Kramer that the president will be visiting troops somewhere overseas.

MEMO TO CEO’S OF FED EX AND UPS – When I worked in the aviation business, we used to marvel at the entrepreneurship and forward thinking of your companies – Federal Express and United Parcel Service – moving packages in small jets, like Falcon Jet to behemoths like the 747 and DC-10.

I recently learned that Amazon – yes, Amazon – is adding 10 aircraft to its fleet of 40 aircraft. Amazon saw the need for aircraft to support the 100 million Prime subscribers, who expect two-day delivery. And have you heard that Amazon customers bought two billion items with one-day delivery this year?

What has happened to the competitiveness we once saw in FedEx and UPS? How could you allow Amazon to encroach on your businesses?

I like Amazon. I’m a Prime subscriber. But I have been a fan of FedEx and UPS for many years and am curious about their visions. I understand that FedEx and UPS operate 650 and 247 aircraft, respectively.

POLITICAL CORRECTNESS has apparently been defeated in the nation’s capital, where it seems to increase on a regular basis. I’m referring to the fizzling of the effort to rename the Russell Senate Office Building after the late Sen. John McCain.

“Richard Russell survived another scare,” wrote Stephen Dinan and Gabriella Munoz in The Washington Times, as they told of the plan to erase the name of Russell, a segregationist, that adorns the Senate’s oldest office building.

Changing the name of the building is similar to the misguided effort to remove statues of U.S. historical figures; as if they can rewrite history. It’s shameful.

Majority Leader Mitch McConnell appears to be behind the “foot dragging,” who seemed to be cool to renaming idea suggested by Sen. Chuck Schumer.

The Times article indicated that McConnell’s office had been in touch with the McCain family to consider other ways to honor him. “McCain, who often confounded colleagues in life,” the Times stated, “continues to do so in death as senators search for an acceptable honor.”

WELL, WELL, WELL, how are the high-profile Democrat women who seek to run for president in 2020 – Senators Gillibrand, Warren and Harris – going to respond to the statement of anti-Semitism of Women’s March national co-chair Tamika Mallory? Mallory recently remarked in the New York Times that “white Jews” contribute to white supremacy. All three have proudly aligned with the Women’s March.

Earlier, Linda Sarsour was quoted as saying, “We have a great program of women leaders. You will be very proud of the updating of the Unity Principles.”

Lahav Harkov of the Jerusalem Post called Mallory an “open, unabashed anti-Semite,” while the Boston Globe’s Michael Cohen blasted Mallory’s comment as “deeply ignorant and offensive.”

The Simon Wiesenthal Center tweeted “cannot rally for equality against bigotry and embrace Louis Farrakhan et al.”

            May God bless the United States of America.