Posted on 08/05/2018 11:11:18 AM PDT by Drango
"Enemy of the people" is an incendiary phrase. It's been uttered by some of history's most vicious thugs — Robespierre, Goebbels, Lenin, Stalin, Mao — to vilify their opponents ... who were often murdered.
President Trump must know that history by now when he calls the press "the enemy of the people." As he must also know the anti-Semitic and racist history of the America First slogan, by which the president describes many of his policies.
But Sarah Sanders, the White House press secretary, pointedly declined the chance this week to say, as Ivanka Tump did, "I do not feel that the media is the enemy of the people."
We should be careful about calling President Trump's attacks on the press unprecedented. Abraham Lincoln shut down newspapers during the Civil War. President Wilson signed the Espionage Act that made it illegal to print, "any disloyal, profane, scurrilous, or abusive language about the form of government of the United States," which would put many Americans behind bars today for a tweet.
Richard Nixon had journalists on his enemies list. President Obama's Justice Department used Wilson's old Espionage Act to prosecute government whistleblowers.
But in this age of trolling, public profanity, and angry, frothing crowds who harass reporters at rallies and sputter coarse slogans, there is something menacing about a president of the United States who cheers on mobs and brands a free press, "the enemy of the people."
I am not starry-eyed about the news business — and it is a business. A lot of us got into journalism with a high-minded ambition to inform the American public. But I think a lot of us make it a living because it's gratifying and fun to try to find and tell stories, see history in the face, ask sharp, critical questions of people in power, and tell the stories of people who feel overlooked.
A free press is the fresh air you need to keep a democracy breathing.
But journalism, as this president, who became a media celebrity because of the New York tabloids should know, can be a contact sport. Civility and professionalism are welcome. But reporting is the profession of All The President's Men, not Mary Poppins. Its purpose is to find flaws, raise doubts, discover secrets and air differences.
If the president had called reporters nosy, cranky, contentious, or smart-alecky, many reporters would have laughed and agreed. But calling them — us — enemies of the people is the kind of curse made by tyrants.
The liar - media has been menacing civil society for many decades with their lies, distortions, omissions and lies. They are the enemies of Truth, Justice and the American Way.
He CORRECTLY called FAKE NEWS the enemy of the people.
HOW AMERICA’S 4TH ESTATE BECAME A 5TH COLUMN
Under 4 minute video.
No telling how long it will take the Google/YouTube Gestapo to find this and pull it so act quickly!
https://youtu.be/RMaEun1tcJA
NPR has been menaced.
Good. NPR needs to be severely menaced.As an enemy of the people, menacing is the only to effectively cease the NPR menace to America
The enemy of the people branding would not have traction unless it was mostly self evident.
Call the The Manchurian Media instead.
“Calling The Press The Enemy Of The People Is A Menacing Move,” says the godless liberty-hating official propaganda ministry of the overreaching U.S. government.
Best election, best POTUS, evah!!
LIEberals are upset that POTUS is “outing” their secrets and shattering their rice bowls!
Keep it up, Mr. President!
We are with you!
MAGA!
Calling someone a Nazi, I believe is inflammatory, and dangerous. Yet, that is what we’ve heard from the media for 3 years now. For months various outlets talked excitedly about assassination. One of the talking heads on CNN was almost orgasmic in his praise of Shakespeare in the Park’s nightly assassination of Trump. For hours on Inaugural Day, CNN speculated on what would happen if Trump was to be assassinated prior to being sworn in. The panel was openly cheerful when one of them said that an 0bama appointee could be appointed to be president. Then there came the attempted murder of a large group of republican congressman by a Bernie Sanders supporter. How many riots, assaults and vandalism has taken place by those inspired by CNN and others?
When you operate as the Ministry of Propaganda, don’t expect people to just accept it.
Pat Caddell called them out in 2012.
Whaaa! Whaaa!
NPR is an enemedia as well.
>>”Enemy of the people” is an incendiary phrase. It’s been uttered by some of history’s most vicious thugs — Robespierre, Goebbels, Lenin, Stalin, Mao — to vilify their opponents ... who were often murdered.
Yet, all of them USED a willing press to declare people to be “enemies of the people” long before the murdering began. Obama and Clinton wanted to add their names to that list of murderous tyrants, but The People stopped them because this is the USA and we have the power.
The press has established itself as our enemy not because we said so, but because they said so!
Those big corporations that own these ‘little people’ are the fat cats that try to decide what happens, well they did until Our President got in the White House...
Now we can express ‘OUR FEELINGS’ because if we don't like the First Amendment that the OPININATORS hide behind, we can remove it...remember in America:
‘FOR THE PEOPLE, BY THE PEOPLE AND OF THE PEOPLE’ and that doesn't mean ‘OPININATORS’...
“A free press is the fresh air you need to keep a democracy breathing.”
I don’t know how Sarah Sanders can stand the WH Press Room with all the “farts” being laid by the “press” in there every day. “Fresh air” isn’t something I’d ascribe to the anti-American “press” today.
But a very truthful move.
It a menacing to word to the traitors who are in the media who try to wrap themselves in the flag and the Constitution. We don’t buy it anymore.
A free, truthful press is the fresh air you need to keep a democracy breathing.
Personally, I feel stiffled.
Maybe this is today’s Phrase That Pays. Somebody on the CBS show this morning went down the same list of people.
The partisan, biased, press is an enemy of the people precisely because they lie and pretend to be objective.
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