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Are Journalists the Enemy of the People?
Townhall.com ^ | August 9, 2018 | Derek Hunter

Posted on 08/09/2018 5:47:53 AM PDT by Kaslin

It’s just a few words, “enemy of the people,” but they have sent liberal journalists collectively flailing to their fainting couches. “President Donald Trump has declared journalists enemies of the people,” they scream, “this puts us in physical danger and threatens our democracy!” Of course, none of that is accurate, but does that make them enemies of the people or just liberal hacks? Does it matter?

Let me just say at the outset that I don’t believe journalists are enemies of the people. I think most of them are frauds – political activists crusading for progressive causes behind the mask of a press credential – but not enemies. That said, they certainly aren’t friends or allies of the people either. Journalists care about journalists, first and foremost, and almost exclusively.

As I write in my book, outside of Hollywood, few professions shower their members with more awards and honors than journalism. If you are a journalist and don’t have a wall full of Lucite blocks and plaques with your name carved into them after 5 years on the job…you’re probably a conservative.

That self-love (Hell, somebody has to love them) is manifesting itself in their outrage over the president’s words. But only some of the president’s words.

Donald Trump doesn’t call all journalists “enemies of the people,” he says “fake news” is the enemy of the people. That so many journalists, particularly from CNN and MSNBC, hear “fake news” and think of themselves is telling.

Of course, everything is about them to these people. They are bastions of truth fighting to protect our democracy from the tyranny of Trump. They’re heroes, just ask them.

None of that is accurate. They’re just people with jobs. Some of them are good at their jobs, most are not. None are crucial and all could easily be replaced. But not one of them will admit that fact.

Their view of themselves is like a circus mirror that not only makes them attractive, it adds a cape. They are heroes in their own stories, writing their own press releases. Their jobs, after all, are mentioned in the First Amendment. They have no such interest in the rest of the First Amendment, or the Second…or the rest of the document.

While they throw out their shoulders patting themselves on the backs for being “champions of the First Amendment,” they seek to silence voices they don’t like.

Look, I’m no fan of Alex Jones. I’m not a fan of conspiracy theories and crazy ideas of “false flag” operations and attacking grieving families. That said, if you can look past that, or you buy into that sort of stuff, knock yourself out. Jones exists because he has an audience who wants to hear him, no one is forced to listen. People love the Big Bang Theory, but it’s not my cup of tea. I don’t want the show canceled, I just don’t watch it.

But liberals can’t handle that contrary opinions exist, they want them silenced; destroyed. CNN had essentially campaigned to get Jones banned from Facebook. On Monday, they succeeded.

These heroes of free speech got Jones and his InfoWars kicked off Facebook, YouTube, Apple apps, and Spotify. While this isn’t a First Amendment issue since these are private companies and not government, it is a free speech issue. Journalists worked to silence someone else’s speech and celebrated it when it happened. Compare that to how they’ve treated the idea of NFL owners attempting to make standing for the national anthem a rule. In that case, liberal journalists whined about the player’s First Amendment rights being somehow infringed. The hypocrisy runs deep.

What was weird about the de-platforming of Jones was how it all came together on the same day. That these mega-companies all decided at the same time to shut him down while being cheered by journalists is more disconcerting than anything he’s said because the implications are much greater.

The left would like nothing more than to shut down Fox News, that is their ultimate goal. They’re content, for now, to try to pick off individual hosts – an attack on Laura Ingraham here, an assault on Sean Hannity there – but de-platforming the entire network is their endgame. So even if you’re like me and not a particular fan of Jones, know this is not where this push ends, it’s where it begins.

This week has exposed how they could do it. Does that make them enemies of the people? It sure doesn’t make them First Amendment heroes, even though they’ll continue to portray themselves as such. As an op-ed on CNN.com put it, “We thank soldiers for their service because they devote themselves to protecting our freedoms, and we should. But we should also thank the media for the same reason -- especially when the stakes have never been higher.”

That gets a hard pass from me.

The liberal media hasn’t let the facts stand in the way of a good story since Donald Trump rode down that escalator to announce his presidential run in June 2015, so why would they start now? Do you call that an “enemy of the people”? I don’t know, but you sure don’t call it a friend.

PS: Once again, I want to encourage you to order a copy of my book, “Outrage, INC: How the Liberal Mob Ruined Science, Journalism, and Hollywood.” It explains the why and how of what the left does in ways that haven’t been before, and it does so with a lot of humor. Don’t take my word for it, take the words of Mark Levin, Ann Coulter, David Limbaugh, Dana Loesch, Dan Bongino, Michelle Malkin, Ben Shapiro, Kurt Schlichter, and countless others. Obviously, I have an interest in selling you a copy of the book, but they don’t. Yet they’ve all endorsed it. You’ll love it, trust me. Thanks.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial
KEYWORDS: alexjones; cnnsucks; enemywithin; fakenews; freespeech; media; msm
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1 posted on 08/09/2018 5:47:53 AM PDT by Kaslin
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To: Kaslin

Yes. Until demonstrated otherwise.


2 posted on 08/09/2018 5:50:26 AM PDT by onedoug
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To: Kaslin

Are Journalists the Enemy of the People?

Short version:

Yes.


3 posted on 08/09/2018 5:50:32 AM PDT by Pravious
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To: Kaslin

I think that language might be a bit strong.

But the media is very much, against conservatives. The media is CHOCK FULL of leftists.

They are all over the media. Everywhere.

Conservatives, really don’t have much at all. Luckily, the outlets we have, are quite popular. Fox for example.

But the number of leftists vs conservatives in the American media is HUGELY on the left.

90% or more. 95%. Maybe even higher.

Really.


4 posted on 08/09/2018 5:52:31 AM PDT by cba123 ( Toi la nguoi My. Toi bay gio o Viet Nam.)
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To: Kaslin

YES, YES and YES


5 posted on 08/09/2018 5:54:00 AM PDT by mulligan (EeThe)
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To: Kaslin

Yes, and they did it to themselves.


6 posted on 08/09/2018 5:54:36 AM PDT by metmom ( ...fixing our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith......)
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To: Kaslin

One this is indisputable as it is supported by FACTS, The media is the enemy of unbiased fair and balanced reporting. And for that, it logically follows that if they are willingly misrepresenting the news and feeding the people Left Wing propaganda, then they are the enemy of everyone who is not Left Wing.


7 posted on 08/09/2018 5:56:29 AM PDT by 1Old Pro
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To: 1Old Pro

One this = One THING is indisputable...


8 posted on 08/09/2018 5:58:22 AM PDT by 1Old Pro
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To: Kaslin

YES.


9 posted on 08/09/2018 5:59:19 AM PDT by I want the USA back (If free speech is taken away, dumb and silent we are led, like sheep to the slaughter: G Washington)
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To: cba123

Trump should say at the next rally, the media is the enemy of Conservative people. In other words, you and me.


10 posted on 08/09/2018 6:00:18 AM PDT by taterjay
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To: onedoug
At the very least, they've picked a side, so they are an opponent of "the other side."

Quibbling over labels used for rhetorical emphasis (enemy vs. opponent; "the people" vs. "half the people") takes attention off the simple fact that journalists are politically aligned hacks; and that they are globalists, not nationalists.

11 posted on 08/09/2018 6:02:10 AM PDT by Cboldt
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To: cba123

They incite violence..
They incite division ...
They want to disarm innocent people...
They demonize/slander groups that stand up for freedom...

Sounds like the British of 1775. Yes, they’re and enemy to the people and our Constitutional Republic.


12 posted on 08/09/2018 6:02:33 AM PDT by mikelets456
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To: Kaslin

Most can no longer be considered journalists. They are activists and they shill for one side. It ain’t the people’s side.

So yes, the are the enemy of the people. They do what they do to cover up and lie to promote progressives and other communists.


13 posted on 08/09/2018 6:03:57 AM PDT by dforest (Never let a Muslim cut your hair.)
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To: Kaslin

Political activists crusading for progressive causes behind the mask of a press credential ARE enemies of the people. No less so than Josef Goebbels, and for the same reasons.


14 posted on 08/09/2018 6:04:00 AM PDT by IronJack
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To: Kaslin

In 2018, the answer is an unqualified yes.


15 posted on 08/09/2018 6:04:36 AM PDT by Buckeye McFrog
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To: Kaslin
...enemies of the people or just liberal hacks?

They are the same thing.

16 posted on 08/09/2018 6:04:49 AM PDT by DakotaGator (Weep for the lost Republic! And keep your powder dry!!)
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To: Kaslin
I think most of them are frauds – political activists crusading for progressive causes behind the mask of a press credential – but not enemies.

Is the wolf, decorated in sheep's clothing, a friend to the sheep?

Oh, and stop calling our form a government a Democracy. We are a Constitutional Republic.

17 posted on 08/09/2018 6:05:00 AM PDT by rjsimmon (The Tree of Liberty Thirsts)
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To: Kaslin

Is it proper to call them “journalists” when they often deliberately misrepresent or omit facts, or distort facts into a predetermined narrative???

I think not. . . .


18 posted on 08/09/2018 6:05:32 AM PDT by RatRipper (Unindicted co-conspirators: the Mainstream Media and the Democratic Party)
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To: Kaslin

Well, I can tell you what Union general William Tecumseh Sherman had to say on the matter:

“I hate newspapermen. They come into camp and pick up their camp rumors and print them as facts. I regard them as little more than spies, which, in truth, they are. If I had my choice I would kill every reporter in the world, but I am sure we would be getting press dispatches from Hell before breakfast.” William Tecumseh Sherman.


19 posted on 08/09/2018 6:05:33 AM PDT by ought-six (Multiculturalism is national suicide, and political correctness is the cyanide capsule.)
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To: Kaslin

Journalists are not enemies of the people....propagandists are.

There are very, very few real journalists still practicing the profession, but there are myriads of propagandists.


20 posted on 08/09/2018 6:06:21 AM PDT by Wonder Warthog (The Hog of Steel and NRA Life Member)
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