Blasting stories that cite anonymous sources, White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus said on CBS's “Face the Nation” that President Trump meant it when he condemned the media as the “enemy” of the people.The press does not work for the President, any president. They are not responsible to the President. The President does not get to tell them what stories they can run and what stories they can't.
“I think you should take it seriously,” Priebus said of Trump's statement. “I think the problem we've got is that we're talking about bogus stories. … And I think the media needs to, in some cases, not every case … but in some cases, really needs to get its act together.”
Damn few presidents or politicians like the press. But they know that criticism from the press goes with the territory. Chris Wallace laid it out for Priebus:
After Priebus said he was "surprised" Wallace would forget "all the shots" that Obama took at Fox News, the anchor interjected.Attacking freedom of the press is a direct attack on American liberty.
"He took the shots, and we didn't like them, and frankly, we don't like this either. But he never went as far as President Trump has. And that's what's concerning. Because it seems like he crosses a line when he says that we're the enemy of the people," Wallace said.
McCain gets it:
"If you want to preserve democracy as we know it, you have to have a free -- and many times adversarial — press," said Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., speaking on NBC's Meet The Press. "And without it, I am afraid that we would lose so much of our individual liberties over time — that's how dictators get started."Mattis also gets it:
Citing history, McCain told NBC that "the first thing that dictators do is shut down the press," though he hastened to add: "I'm not saying that President Trump is trying to be a dictator. I'm just saying we need to learn the lessons of history."
Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said Sunday that he does not see the media as the enemy of the American people, disagreeing with a claim made Friday by President Trump about numerous outlets.McCain and Mattis are grownups. As for Donald Trump, he needs to pull up his big-boy pants. Hostile press criticism goes with the job. If he can't handle that, he needs to quit and go back to his career of grifting gullible investors.
Mattis, asked directly about Trump’s criticism of the media, said he has had “some rather contentious times with the press” but considers the institution “a constituency that we deal with.” The defense secretary added: “I don’t have any issues with the press myself.”
Trump clearly doesn't understand anything in the Constitution (other than the takings clause).
The time is coming when every American is going to have to choose between standing up for freedom or standing with Trump.
8 comments:
Do you seriously believe that the majority of the press in this country are not the enemies of the USA? I'm a libertarian, I have friends that run the political gamut.
I know not one person who doesn't believe that.
Johnny Gee.
I stand with the Press!
would you say that a press that is obviously the propaganda wing of a "party" is NOT an enemy of the people? why did they cover for little boots? why did they cover for hitlery?
It's beginning to stink in here.
Hmmm, jackboots and concentration camps are always in the GOPs future, but are actually in the Dems past.
I cite the First Amemdment.
I cite sanity and citizenship. You don't get to have it served up to your tastes. You have to be able to tell what's what. And with the sheer volume of information out there, that is actually easier than it has ever been in all of history.
No, you won't get to like everything you see or read. Get this: no-one ever has.
Also, the sheer volume of confirmed lies Trump and his advisors/spokespeople have been caught telling should raise some red flags when he starts in with the "I'm the only one you can trust for news that isn't fake" horse shit.
That claim might be more credible if it were not delivered interspersed with lies and insanity.
The media has it's problems, especially in a world where the news is expected to make it's own money, but if the media we have here doesn't look any different to you than the state run media of a few autocracies I could mention, I would very respectfully suggest that you at least try to examine how you got to that conclusion, because there may be things sneaking up through your blind spots that you won't like at all.
And some in the media are at least trying to do their jobs, which is more than I can say for Trump:
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/15/business/media/trump-journalism-media-competition.html?_r=1
-Doug in Oakland
One of the first things Hitler's Shock Troops did on the night of his 1923 Beer Hall Putsch was to break into and smash the offices, typewriters, and printing presses of the Munich Post. The Post had seen through all of Hitler's rhetoric all along and had been highly and openly critical of his character and intentions. They continued to be a strong voice against him for the next 12 years.
Hitler's dismantling of the free press is Dictator 101. Now, Trump cannot burn down the New York Times or Washington Post... but he can do the next best thing: make them appear inconsequential in the minds of his supporters. He can't silence their printing presses and sites, but by declaring them "fake news", "the enemy", and "the opposing party," his followers immediately discount anything they have to say. Therefore, the same end result is achieved.
In a way, it's similar to the way Scientology works. It is, by its very nature, a cult. When a loved one gets dragged into a cult, the family often turns to mental health specialists to help pull them out. One of the tenets of Scientology is a profound distrust for psychologists/psychiatrists. The very people that can help are the ones most likely to be shunned.
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