Protect Our Free Press

Amendment I. Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

The media has zero integrity, zero intelligence, and no hard work. You’re the opposition party. Not the Democratic Party. You’re the opposition party. The media’s the opposition party.”

Stephen Bannon

“You [the press] always want to go by what’s come out of his mouth rather than look at what’s in his heart.”

Kellyanne Conway

“I have a running war with the media. They are among the most dishonest human beings on earth.”

Donald J. Trump

"Never forget. The press is the enemy. The establishment is the enemy. The professors are the enemy. Professors are the enemy. Write that on a blackboard 100 times and never forget it."

Richard Nixon to his national security adviser Henry Kissinger in a taped 1972 Oval Office conversation

We all know how it ended in the Nixon administration when he was forced to resign in August, 1974.

But it’s different this time as Trump and his ministers of propaganda are “crazy-makers.”  There is a concerted effort to make the lie indistinct from reality. Responsible journalists must stand united with the facts, clearly pointing out the dangers to the Republic.  We, the citizens, must take up each and every infringement of the Constitution and iniquitous Executive Order with our representatives, focusing on the mid-term elections to bring about an effective opposition Congress – and the removal of the “ministers of propaganda.”  

Fortunately some former congressional staff members have put together “A practical guide for resisting the Trump agenda.”  It is better to read that, join local groups, than reacting to every Presidential tweet and proclamation, chasing our tails with frustrated tweets and retweets.  Even though it’s been only a week since the inauguration, it seems like a lifetime in dog years. 

The Press is the Enemy

Amazing to read some of the latest Nixon tapes, particularly his comments on the media and academics, a leitmotif of the 2008 campaign, as Republicans condemned the media and intellectual conservatives deserted the Party.

"Never forget," Nixon tells national security adviser Henry Kissinger in a taped 1972 Oval Office conversation, "The press is the enemy. The establishment is the enemy. The professors are the enemy. Professors are the enemy," he repeated. "Write that on a blackboard 100 times and never forget it."

Here is Sarah Palin’s response to Katie Couric’s question “Do you think the coverage of you has been sexist?”

No, I don't. I mean, I know that there--it's obvious there's some double-standards here, you know, in terms of what the media has been doing, but I think that's more--I think more attributable to just the media elite, the Washington elite, not knowing who I am and just asking a whole lot of questions and not so much based on gender though, but based on just the fact that I'm not part of the Washington herd.