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Stupid Hostile Media
Townhall.com ^ | July 12, 2017 | John Stossel

Posted on 07/12/2017 5:23:52 AM PDT by Kaslin

President Donald Trump drives people crazy.

Especially those in the media.

They hate him so much, they leap on every anti-Trump rumor.

The Federalist's Jordyn Pair points out that the press repeatedly told us that a dozen Trump administration members were about to be fired, including Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Press Secretary Sean Spicer and strategists Steve Bannon and Jared Kushner.

Months later, all still work for or with the administration.

I actually wish Sessions had been fired, but Trump's staff reshufflings are no more frequent than those of other administrations, including President Obama's. The media so desperately want something bad to happen, to prove Trump's unqualified, that they blow stuff up.

New York Times writers are so upset by Trump's rants against them that they act like he's a Venezuelan dictator who will shut them down. (Wait, don't Times socialists like Venezuelan dictators?)

"Independent Press Is Under Siege as Freedom Rings" was one recent headline.

The evidence?

"The First Amendment," wrote the normally sensible media columnist Jim Rutenberg, "is under near-daily assault from the highest levels of the government."

The "assault" cited was Trump's tweeting out a fake wrestling video, which depicted, as Rutenberg put it, "himself tackling and beating a figure with a CNN logo superimposed."

So what? The video, like professional wrestling, was childish and unpresidential. But it doesn't put the press "under siege." It's a lame joke.

Rutenberg goes on to ask how we can feel good about Independence Day and press freedom "when the president lashes out at The Washington Post by making a veiled threat against the business interests of its owner, Jeff Bezos, suggesting that his other company, Amazon, is a tax avoider. (Where have we seen that sort of thing before -- Russia maybe?)"

Hello? In Russia, Putin probably murdered reporters. Trump merely suggested that Bezos dodges taxes.

I threw that at Rutenberg. He emailed back, "That wasn't a reference to murder (but) to executive authority using tax code to squelch free-speech." In Russia, media that criticized Putin were raided and accused of tax fraud.

But Trump hasn't done any of that. There's speculation that he will block a Time Warner merger, but hasn't done it.

Another annoying Times headline: "The Network Against the Leader of the Free World."

The story complained about Trump's "denunciations (of CNN) in stinging tweets and slashing speeches."

Poor CNN. Except the story also quoted the company's president bragging about viewership that's "the highest in the network's history." For some reason, it didn't mention that CNN's audience is still less than half that of Fox.

But my main objection to that story's headline is the phrase "Leader of the Free World."

The line first appeared in The New York Times when I was 1 year old. An economist argued that the U.S., the "leader of the free world," should lead the fight against Communism.

That made sense. The U.S. was and is the world's wealthiest and most powerful country.

But no president is "leader of the free world." Does President Trump lead Japan? Iceland? Does he lead you?

He's not my leader. The president leads one of three branches of government. He's commander in chief of the armed services. He's not "leader of the free world."

The media obsess about Trump's speeches, tweets and narcissistic behavior as if he were king of the world. But even the president is just one man in a very large bureaucracy.

There are legitimate reasons to worry about what Trump might do. I worry that he'll start a trade war. Or a shooting war. There's plenty to worry about.

So why make things up?

If you worry that Trump will destroy your way of life, the smartest thing to do is to decrease the power of all presidents: Shrink the executive branch back to the humble role it had when the founders wrote the Constitution.

Make sure Congress passes declarations of war before the U.S. goes to war. Don't let any president rule through executive orders. Make sure Congress passes laws instead of letting federal agencies write rules.

A president's job is to execute laws. The fewer and simpler those laws, the easier it will be to prevent crazy things from happening.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial
KEYWORDS: antitrump; drivebymedia; liberalmedia; limitedgovernment; presidenttrump; stossel; trump45

1 posted on 07/12/2017 5:23:52 AM PDT by Kaslin
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To: Kaslin

John Stossel likes to pretend he’s an objective, unbiased journalist.

Every so often, though, the mask slips.


2 posted on 07/12/2017 5:37:22 AM PDT by Arm_Bears (Rope. Tree. Politician/Journalist. Some assembly required.)
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To: Kaslin

The media did not suddenly become hostile because of President (or candidate) Trump.

They’ve long been hostile and they’ve turned their hostility on Donald Trump and his family.

I gave up on their naked hostility to my beliefs, my politics, my skin color, my sex, my nationality early in 2007. My tv died and I didn’t bother replacing it.

It isn’t just the news coverage (which is also promoted in advertisements during other programs), it’s the chat shows, it’s the paid messaging in fictional comedies and dramas.

Their hostility to America and those that love(d) it is unwelcome in my home.

I endured it long enough. Yelling at a tv or radio is no solution. Just turn it off. I’m surprised I wasn’t worn down decades earlier as they were bashing Reagan at every turn in print, radio, and television while I was going to school in Boston. Late night talk from Larry King. Ugh.


3 posted on 07/12/2017 5:38:26 AM PDT by a fool in paradise ( Mr. Comey, did you engage in or know of ANY OTHER leaks?)
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To: Kaslin
Sessions is the best of the best. He just works behind the scenes and you want him front and center.

Session is responsible for the USSC approving Trump's immigration order.

4 posted on 07/12/2017 5:38:39 AM PDT by Sacajaweau
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Comment #5 Removed by Moderator

To: a fool in paradise

Then again I could see journalism students being radicalized by Howard Zinn at the time.

Who could foresee that he’d be given access to spread his anti-American hate in classrooms from coast to coast?


6 posted on 07/12/2017 5:40:33 AM PDT by a fool in paradise ( Mr. Comey, did you engage in or know of ANY OTHER leaks?)
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To: onkelosII

Hitlery Rotten Clinton declared herself part of the “resistance”.

That lying b**** has declared herself a naked opponent to the peaceful transition of power in this country and fuels the violent hate from the militant Left in America.


7 posted on 07/12/2017 5:42:11 AM PDT by a fool in paradise ( Mr. Comey, did you engage in or know of ANY OTHER leaks?)
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To: Kaslin
There are legitimate reasons to worry about what Trump might do. I worry that he'll start a trade war. Or a shooting war. There's plenty to worry about.

Hey John you globalists need to take a back seat or get the hell out of the Republican Party. I cannot take anyone seriously that makes a statement like - "starting a trade war". WE ARE IN A TRADE WAR NOW. The problem is we do not fight back.

8 posted on 07/12/2017 5:44:13 AM PDT by central_va (I won't be reconstructed and I do not give a damn.)
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To: Kaslin
I think it's cute that the media still thinks they are relevant. God love um.....

Now go investigate Hillary and Obama or STFU.....

9 posted on 07/12/2017 5:46:53 AM PDT by Envisioning (Carry safe, always carry, everyday, everywhere.)
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Comment #10 Removed by Moderator

To: a fool in paradise
Yelling at a tv or radio is no solution. Just turn it off

TV is literally wasting away the fabric of society. A full repertoire of reasons is not secret...


11 posted on 07/12/2017 5:48:09 AM PDT by C210N
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To: onkelosII

For decades now Hollyweird has tried to get away on sh!tcoms on tv with using “he’s a Republican!” as a laff-track ready punchline.

No attempts to be funny, just hammer home stereotypes and reward those who do.


12 posted on 07/12/2017 5:50:17 AM PDT by a fool in paradise ( Mr. Comey, did you engage in or know of ANY OTHER leaks?)
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Comment #13 Removed by Moderator

To: Envisioning

Print reporting is dying (newspaper circulation and reading is down down down, magazines are folding, everything is far thinner than 2 decades ago). I don’t know that this is extending to books just yet.

Radio listenership is down. White people are expected to pay for radio while the old stations move to more and more foreign language programming (”growing markets” they call it). With streaming content (or portable players for music libraries contained in the majority’s pockets, i.e. phones) the dial is dying.

Hollywood killed home recording (you can buy a DVD recorder or a DVR recorder but equipment that does both has disappeared from the market) even though they lost the Sony Betamax decision. People are “timeshifting” their content other ways now, hulu, netflix, or youtube.

Eventually they’ll cut the cord altogether and just binge programs from disc/stream or watch original content made outside of the studio system on youtube/vemeo or other services (uploaded by third party producers).

The Beast will still tell the public which programs they “have” to watch this “season” to be “hip” or “with it”. When you give up that chase of trying to conform, your options open up.


14 posted on 07/12/2017 5:58:27 AM PDT by a fool in paradise ( Mr. Comey, did you engage in or know of ANY OTHER leaks?)
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To: a fool in paradise
Bingo.

The Media is hostile to US ! Self anointed bastiges

15 posted on 07/12/2017 6:04:01 AM PDT by onona (Stop stonewalling Judicial Watch and release the documents)
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To: a fool in paradise
Bingo.

The Media is hostile to US ! Self anointed bastiges

16 posted on 07/12/2017 6:04:02 AM PDT by onona (Stop stonewalling Judicial Watch and release the documents)
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To: Kaslin

Not just hostile, but seditious. And should be prosecuted as such.


17 posted on 07/12/2017 6:13:11 AM PDT by WKUHilltopper (WKU 2016 Boca Raton Bowl Champions)
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To: Kaslin

The new world order is trying to remove President Trump to bet back on the money train in Washington.


18 posted on 07/12/2017 6:28:07 AM PDT by mountainlion (Live well for those that did not make it back.)
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To: Kaslin
He emailed back, "That wasn't a reference to murder (but) to executive authority using tax code to squelch free-speech." In Russia, media that criticized Putin were raided and accused of tax fraud.

Please. When Trump starts directing the IRS to punitively audit liberals, and intentionally hold up tax-exempt applications for liberal groups, he will barely have begun to threaten free speech as much as Obamao and his crew did.

I so despise hypocrites (which includes pretty much ALL liberals).

19 posted on 07/12/2017 6:35:19 AM PDT by Sicon ("All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others." - G. Orwell)
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To: onkelosII

President Trump did not have to run for President a second time when he has everything a man could conceivably want especially with his family. He did it for love of country so contrast that to the vile left. They are petty jealous and irate that they spent over a billion dollars to anoint the most detestable,corrupt and treasonous creature to ever run for office only to come out with a handful of nothing.


20 posted on 07/12/2017 6:45:54 AM PDT by shanover (...To disarm the people is the best and most effectual way to enslave them.-S.Adams)
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