Fascism 2-26-2017

26, February 2017                            Fascism

Following the disastrous travel ban, White House press secretary issued a fatwa barring reporters from The Times, CNN, and Politico.  .  . from attending daily press briefings. This is a huge breach of protocol and a major assault on free speech. This speaks volumes of an insecure razor thin-skinned Donald Trump who cannot tolerate criticism and only craves adulation from his adoring fans. Bad hombre, Sean Spicer, compounded the policy change by inviting more Trump friendly reporters such as Breitbart News, The Washington Times, along with conservative leaning journalists from The Wall Street Journal, and Fox News. The few principled news outlets, such as TIME and the Associated Press, who were invited to the Spicer propaganda forum, declined the invitation to register their solidarity with the excluded media. Shame on the other news media who attended.

This is similar to the fake news strategy used by the Pentagon under George W. Bush embedding reporters to put a positive spin in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

To counter Trump’s fascism, the White House Correspondence Association should cancel its traditional roasting of the “so called president.” The media protects our democracy. The president does not get to hand-pick news organizations that shower him with compliments and positive stories. This is disturbing and a dark foreshadowing of what's to come. We are witnessing fascism in the making where Trump and his hired hands are attempting to control the narrative by denigrating and personalizing legitimate criticism.