Posted on 08/04/2018 3:01:13 PM PDT by Drango
A week after firing FBI Director James Comey in May 2017, President Trump got out of Washington to deliver the commencement address at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy. He decided to give the graduating cadets some advice.
"Over the course of your life, you will find that things are not always fair," Trump said. "You will find that things happen to you that you do not deserve and that are not always warranted. But you have to put your head down and fight, fight, fight. Never, ever, ever give up. Things will work out just fine."
Pretty standard stuff to tell young adults. But then, he added this:
"No politician in history — and I say this with great surety — has been treated worse or more unfairly. You can't let them get you down. You can't let the critics and the naysayers get in the way of your dreams. I guess that's why I ... I guess that's why we won."
Trump has certainly not been treated more unfairly than any politician in history. Some have been assassinated, faced violent and discriminatory prejudice, and one twice-popularly elected president even had his American birth questioned.
But the fact that Trump believes it is instructive. His sense of fairness, or unfairness, really, has driven him, his rise in politics — and his priorities for the country. He has capitalized on grievance, especially that of white Americans chafing at the culture of a demographically changing country, and has expressed his view of what is unfair — everything from trade and immigration to the court system, the Affordable Care Act's individual coverage mandate, the IRS, the plight of political allies and, of course, the news media.
Since he announced for president, he has used the word "unfair" 69 times, and since becoming president, 40 times.
Trump often tweets his unfairness outrage when he is in a defensive crouch. For example, over the last several months, with his back against the wall on his trade policies, two-thirds of his tweets using the word "unfair" have been about trade. It's a topic Trump has talked about for 30 years. In the 1980s, he railed against Japanese trade practices. Now, he is talking about China.
What he views as financial unfairness has been fundamental, not just when it comes to trade. He tweeted his outrage at the IRS for his being audited
I unfairly get audited by the I.R.S. almost every single year. I have rich friends who never get audited. I wonder why?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 27, 2016 ... and even Nordstrom for dropping his daughter's merchandise line.
My daughter Ivanka has been treated so unfairly by @Nordstrom. She is a great person -- always pushing me to do the right thing! Terrible!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 8, 2017 But he also sees unfairness when people on his side politically get into trouble — even if they have been accused of wrongdoing.
Just this week, Trump was tweeting in defense of Paul Manafort, his former campaign chairman. The president raised the question of who was treated worse — Manafort or ... Al Capone.
Looking back on history, who was treated worse, Alfonse Capone, legendary mob boss, killer and “Public Enemy Number One,” or Paul Manafort, political operative & Reagan/Dole darling, now serving solitary confinement - although convicted of nothing? Where is the Russian Collusion?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 1, 2018 Capone was sentenced to 11 years in prison (and served 7 1/2), not for being a mob boss who ordered murders, but for tax evasion. Manafort could face a similar sentence if he is convicted of committing financial crimes.
It's not the first time Trump tweeted about the "unfairness" shown to Manafort.
Trump also thought his former national security adviser Michael Flynn was treated unfairly. Flynn resigned after it was discovered he misled Vice President Pence, before Pence went on a round of Sunday shows, about the nature of his conversations with the Russian ambassador during the presidential transition period between Trump's election and inauguration.
"General Flynn is a wonderful man," Trump said in February 2017 after accepting Flynn's resignation. "I think he has been treated very, very unfairly by the media, as I call it, the fake media in many cases. And I think it is really a sad thing that he was treated so badly."
In Trump's view, Flynn was treated "unfairly," even though Flynn would later plead guilty to lying to the FBI about his contacts with the Russian ambassador. Trump, however, continued to defend Flynn on Twitter months after the guilty plea — when a political adversary came out with a book and started grabbing the limelight.
So General Michael Flynn’s life can be totally destroyed while Shadey James Comey can Leak and Lie and make lots of money from a third rate book (that should never have been written). Is that really the way life in America is supposed to work? I don’t think so!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 20, 2018
The New York Times reported earlier this year that one of Trump's personal attorneys in the Russia investigation floated the idea of pardoning Manafort and Flynn. Trump's praise for them does raise the question of whether he would pardon them at some point, especially if Manafort continues not to cooperate with the special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.
Trump has already issued pardons to some political allies. And perceived fairness has been at the heart of those cases for the president.
Take conservative author Dinesh D'Souza, who pleaded guilty to campaign finance fraud. He used straw donors to get around contribution limits. Despite the facts in the case, Trump declared D'Souza was "treated very unfairly by our government" and gave him a presidential pardon.
Will be giving a Full Pardon to Dinesh D’Souza today. He was treated very unfairly by our government!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 31, 2018
Trump also pardoned Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who also landed on the wrong side of the law. He flouted a court order to stop detaining people suspected of being in the country illegally. Arpaio, who was a Trump friend dating back to their "birther" investigative days, was found guilty of contempt and was going to be subject to possibly six months in jail.
Trump wasn't having it.
"I thought he was treated unbelievably unfairly when they came down with their big decision to go get him, right before the election voting started," Trump said in August of last year. He added, "I thought that was a very, very unfair thing to do."
Now, Arpaio is running for the Senate and reviving his claims that former President Barack Obama is not a U.S. citizen.
And, of course, there's the news media. Four times since June, Trump has referred to the press as the "enemy of the people" on Twitter. His press secretary on Thursday refused to say the press wasn't and instead ticked off a list of grievances and perceived slights.
If it's negative news, Trump dubs it "fake" news. "Only negative stories from the fakers back there," Trump told a crowd of supporters Thursday night at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. He derided what the press does as "fake, fake disgusting news."
"Whatever happened to the free press?" he added. "Whatever happened to honest reporting? They don't report it. They only make up stories."
Veteran journalist Marvin Kalb has written a forthcoming book called, "Enemy of the People." He warns that this kind of targeting of the press is familiar:
"Twentieth-century dictators — notably, Stalin, Hitler, and Mao — had all denounced their critics, especially the press, as 'enemies of the people.' Their goal was to delegitimize the work of the press as 'fake news' and create confusion in the public mind about what's real and what isn't; what can be trusted and what can't be. That, it seems, is also Trump's goal."
Trump's goal, as is that of most in power, is to get out their message in the widest and most unfiltered way possible. Trump understands the power of the media to get across a message.
Where his style differs, of course, from past presidents' is a lack of reverence for the press's role in a free society.
Trump's style, in business and in politics, has always been to crush whatever and whomever stands in his way. Stand with him, and be rewarded — even if for a short while.
There's no telling exactly how Trump will channel his latest perceived unfairness toward him, especially as the first trial of the Mueller Russia probe --Manafort's — moves toward its conclusion in a couple weeks.
But, if past is prologue, the president will seethe and lash out in many directions, and there's no telling what that will mean as the country heads toward an election that could have sweeping consequences for Trump's agenda, legacy and time in office.
"WOW...over the top even for NPR. Keep in mind this is ANALYSIS not OPINION.
The Slimes is conveniently omitting the fact that Rosenweasel recommended firing Comey.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-39866767
If life were fair, NPR would not be subsidized.
It used to be that in every major city, there was a paper that was pro=labor (i.e., dem) and another that was pro business (i.e., Rep). Not any more.
Across the board, the media tried to prevent Trump’s election and, once elected, they refused to accept his election. I’d say that the universality of media hatred of this president is pretty much unprecedented.
The fact that NPR can’t seem to admit it shows how deeply they are involved.
You know, Mr. DOMENICO MONTANARO, that we have one person in particular who has been commenting on the treachery, greed, lying, and hypocrisy of politicians for three decades now. So why do the media vilify this man?
Wow. Lunatics.
NPR should bill itself as a Multiplex Cinema because it’s projection all the time.
Jimmy Carter also told us life is unfair, so there’s that.
I’m pretty sure NPR’s approval rating is way below 50%
It's no wonder that NPR would choose an unsophisticated, hate-filled and biased piece of, um, work such as Domenico Montanaro for their 'lead editor for politics and digital audience'.
Montanaro displays all of the insight and understanding of the world outside of his protective bubble that you would expect to find in a young child.
A 'slow' young child, that is.
But he is evidently skilled at trotting out the party line on demand, spewing a scattershot of left-wing talking points aimed at an audience of readers and listeners who are educated without being smart, and are largely bereft of critical thinking skills.
That's NPR in a nutshell, so Montanaro is a perfect fit.
what an arrogant piece of work Montanaro is:
2 Aug TWEET: Demonico Montanaro: 1/ The president of the United States has made 4,229 false claims in 558 days. That’s almost 8 (!!!) per DAY. Can you imagine if you did that at work, with your spouse or friends? You’d probably be fired and unable to hold down a relationship.
LINKS TO WAPO “FACT CHECKER” ARTICLE - LOL.
2/ We all make mistakes and sometimes even... lie. But at this rate? You would have to do some serious self-examination to get things on track.
3/ And it’s been said before, but journalists try very hard to get it right. It’s actually the core of our jobs, to have the Truth — a shared, independently verifiable Truth — as our North Star. Sometimes, we get it wrong, usually because of speed (or laziness).
4/ But when we get it wrong, we correct it and try to do better. If in our profession someone continually gets it wrong, they would relatively quickly be out of a job.
5/5 And it’s true of politicians, too. Most at least base what they’re talking about in facts that are generally accurate and then spun up. And when they or their team get it wrong, and it’s pointed out, they are usually shamable enough to change how they talk about it.
6/6 unless you have no shame. Unless you decide that you have to dig in on this thing. Usually it’s ONE really big thing. This, though? This is not normal
https://twitter.com/DomenicoNPR/status/1025022865723338752
Mind as well add NPR to the same list CNN is on.
JoMa
I don’t pay for CNN.
However, if I refuse to pay for NPR via taxes, eventually a LEO with a gun on his hip, will come to my door.
Why are we forced to pay for this LIB twaddle? Even $.01 is too much. These losers at npr should ALL be terminated immediately . ..even the janitorial staff. What absolutely worthless degenerates .
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