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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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To: Cboldt

The propaganda Goebbels promulgated resulted in disaster for the German people, just as the lies spread by today’s fake journalists will result in catastrophe for America. As enemies of truth, they are enemies of the people. They should be the first to burn when the war starts.


41 posted on 08/09/2018 7:10:02 AM PDT by IronJack
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To: Kaslin

The 90% of them who are Leftists definitely are enemies of the people.

42 posted on 08/09/2018 7:13:59 AM PDT by Avalon Memories ( Proud Deplorable. Proud born-in-the-USA American Dreamer.)
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To: Kaslin

Arguably we are not discussing journalists, but Left-wing propagandists.
But, then real journalists (like Michael Yon) are few and far between.


43 posted on 08/09/2018 7:20:36 AM PDT by Little Ray (Freedom Before Security!)
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To: Kaslin

Enemies of the people? That’s pretty nebulous.

However, they do support violent, socialist Antifa, other domestic organizations that are socialist/communist and they support foreign totalitarian communist regimes in Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua, etc. And all these groups hate and oppose the US Constitution.

So while they may or may not be enemies of the people, they act like and sound like domestic enemies of the Constitution.

It may be worth pointing out that millions of people in this country have taken an oath to support the Constitution against all enemies, foreign or domestic. I suggest to the media, if you don’t want to be called it, don’t be it. :-)


44 posted on 08/09/2018 7:34:17 AM PDT by Cincinnatus.45-70 (What do DemocRats enjoy more than a truckload of dead babies? Unloading them with a pitchfork!)
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To: Kaslin

Enemies of the people? That’s pretty nebulous.

However, they do support violent, socialist Antifa, other domestic organizations that are socialist/communist and they support foreign totalitarian communist regimes in Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua, etc. And all these groups hate and oppose the US Constitution.

So while they may or may not be enemies of the people, they act like and sound like domestic enemies of the Constitution.

It may be worth pointing out that millions of people in this country have taken an oath to support the Constitution against all enemies, foreign or domestic. I suggest to the media, if you don’t want to be called it, don’t be it. :-)


45 posted on 08/09/2018 7:34:18 AM PDT by Cincinnatus.45-70 (What do DemocRats enjoy more than a truckload of dead babies? Unloading them with a pitchfork!)
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To: Kaslin

Definitely they are the enemies of the truth.


46 posted on 08/09/2018 7:35:26 AM PDT by redcatcherb412
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To: Kaslin
"Are Journalists the Enemy of the People?"

No. But the conmen (and conwomen) who serve the Democrat Party by blasting forth its propaganda on the "Newsmedia" are Enemies of the People.

Are Policemen the Enemy of the People?

Hell NO! But corrupt, crooked cops are the Enemy of the People.

Are FBI Agents the Enemy of the People?

Hell NO! But corrupt, crooked, politicized FBI Agents are the Enemy of the People.

47 posted on 08/09/2018 7:38:54 AM PDT by Savage Beast (President Trump has remained steadfast! This is leadership! Steadfast, America! We shall overcome!)
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To: Kaslin

You have to think about the term “Enemy Of The People” I view them as the enemy trying to destroy our president and his successes. I am one of the people. I think you can factually say the press is the “Enemy Of Many Of The People.”


48 posted on 08/09/2018 7:41:20 AM PDT by kjam22
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To: Kaslin

Mike Wallace and Peter Jennings ‘Journalists first, Americans second’
1987
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGg_dpGhlf0

Mike Wallace shamed Peter Jennings (then a Canadian) in agreeing they would watch and film a massacre of US troops if they had foreknowledge of the attack from the enemy. Have to remain impartial, y’see.

Now ask yourself if they are enemies if the American people?

1996
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/press/vanities/fallows.html


49 posted on 08/09/2018 7:41:40 AM PDT by a fool in paradise
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To: Kaslin

Some are some aren’t.


50 posted on 08/09/2018 7:43:17 AM PDT by 48th SPS Crusader (I am an American. Not a Republican or a Democrat)
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To: IronJack
-- The propaganda Goebbels promulgated resulted in disaster for the German people ... --

Only because they lost the war.

I do agree with you, on the point that the press is in principle better serving the public when it serves up the tuth. My point is that serving up the truth is the exception in journalism, not the rule. The journalist who serves the winning side in a propoaganda battle will by defintion (which THEY get to make for THEMSELVES), NOT be an enemy of the people. In history, the more dishonest side is often the victor.

The press today serves transnational globalism. If you onbject to transnational globalism, says the press, then YOU are an enemy of the people of the globe.

51 posted on 08/09/2018 8:17:50 AM PDT by Cboldt
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To: Kaslin

There are so many examples of lying from the corrupt news media and it is always in favor of hobbling the United States.


52 posted on 08/09/2018 8:37:52 AM PDT by minnesota_bound
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To: Kaslin

95% of so called Journalists are self described Democrats, Liberals, Progressives and / or Socialists.

Of the remaining 5%, four out of five are Liars.


53 posted on 08/09/2018 8:40:59 AM PDT by Kickass Conservative (THEY LIVE, and we're the only ones wearing the Sunglasses.)
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To: Kaslin
FIRST OF ALL
They are NOT JOURNALISTS
They are shills an propagandists for the democrats


54 posted on 08/09/2018 8:53:49 AM PDT by uncbob
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To: Kaslin

“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...”

All progressive activists are enemies of the people.


55 posted on 08/09/2018 9:21:25 AM PDT by Boogieman
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To: Cboldt

The propagandists are having trouble controlling the narrative these days. So anointing themselves victors isn’t quite as cut and dried as it was in Joe Stalin’s time.

The globalists may consider the People the enemy. But the same is true in reverse.


56 posted on 08/09/2018 10:41:17 AM PDT by IronJack
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To: Kaslin

Journalism is not our enemy.

Modern ‘journalist’ are an enemy of the free people.

“Much of that starts from the assumption that Trump voters are backward, and that it’s our duty to catalogue and ultimately reverse that backwardness. What can we do to get these people to stop worshiping their false god and accept our gospel?” - Will Rahn, CBS


57 posted on 08/09/2018 11:50:51 AM PDT by VaeVictis (~Woe to the Conquered~)
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To: Kaslin

Criticism of the press is nothing new. Noah Webster

“The freedom of the press is a valuable privilege; but the abuse of it, in this country, … is a frightful evil. The licentiousness of the press is a deep stain upon the character of the country; & in addition to the evil of calumniating good men, & giving a wrong direction to public measures, it corrupts the people by rendering them insensible to the value of truth & of reputation.”

“—Advertisements... contain the only truths to be relied on in a newspaper.”
Thomas Jefferson, Letter to Nathaniel Macon, January 12, 1819—

Speaking particularly about the “press” and their “license”, Mark Twain said:

“That awful power, the public opinion of a nation, is created in America by a horde of ignorant, self-complacent simpletons who failed at ditching and shoe making and fetched up in journalism on their way to the poor house.”
— Mark Twain


58 posted on 08/09/2018 6:32:24 PM PDT by kathsua (A woman can do anything a man can do and have babies besides;)
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To: Kaslin
Let me just say at the outset that I don’t believe journalists are enemies of the people.

Doesn't matter a bit to me, one way or the other. The question for me is, are journalists enemies of the Constitution:

“I, [FReeper Archy], do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God.” (Title 10, US Code; Act of May 5, 1960 replacing the wording first adopted in 1789, with amendment effective Oct. 5, 1962).

I first gave my word in that respect, in a little different form, back in 1996, as a new Private enlistee in Basic Training, soon to head for tank crewman school. I last gave it in 2008 in another slightly different form, and will likely continue to do so until my Reserve obligation expires 1n 2026.

All it takes is one tweet from my President of the United States, and enemies are going to start dropping like flies.

59 posted on 08/10/2018 12:32:47 PM PDT by archy (Whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Except bears, they'll kill you a little, then eat you.)
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To: Kaslin

bump


60 posted on 08/10/2018 6:31:56 PM PDT by foreverfree
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