2023: A BAD YEAR; |
 JOE BIDEN - CREDIT, photo, the White House, David Lienemann |  DONALD TRUMP - CREDIT, illustration by Frank Gerardi |
I’M AMONG THE FEW PEOPLE who don’t think 2023 was a terrible year.
Sure, a whole lot of dreadful was packed into the 12 months now wrapping up.
But there was a lot to like about 2023 – well, maybe “a lot” is too generous.
Still, there were some remarkable people at work, and some uplifting events.
And these positives count, because they are what sustain and move us forward. The negatives are to be expected.
I know that by now, you’ve had enough of year-end roundups. And what’s more, a lot of people carry them off with more skill, detail and eloquence than I do. Let’s start off with the positives.
THE GOOD
Sure, a whole lot of dreadful was packed into the 12 months now wrapping up.
But there was a lot to like about 2023 – well, maybe “a lot” is too generous.
Still, there were some remarkable people at work, and some uplifting events.
And these positives count, because they are what sustain and move us forward. The negatives are to be expected.
I know that by now, you’ve had enough of year-end roundups. And what’s more, a lot of people carry them off with more skill, detail and eloquence than I do. Let’s start off with the positives.
THE GOOD
JOE BIDEN: AN AMERICAN HERO
He saved us from a Trump second term. Moreover, Joe has run his presidency as well as anyone could – better than people much younger, smarter, better spoken and more charismatic than he is.
We take this accomplishment for granted, as if the first three years of Biden’s term have been how things are supposed to be.
His cabinet is filled with bright, competent people who value their offices and missions.
He has made reasonable decisions. Ukraine. His big spending bills. I don’t say they were perfect or even 100 percent right decisions. Presidents say and do stupid things, since, with one exception, they are terribly human.
Presidents have too much power, starting with being able to blow up the world just on their say so. At the same time, a handful of extremist Republicans in Congress can stalemate a president, bring the economy to a dead stop, betray our allies and cancel reform.
He saved us from a Trump second term. Moreover, Joe has run his presidency as well as anyone could – better than people much younger, smarter, better spoken and more charismatic than he is.
We take this accomplishment for granted, as if the first three years of Biden’s term have been how things are supposed to be.
His cabinet is filled with bright, competent people who value their offices and missions.
He has made reasonable decisions. Ukraine. His big spending bills. I don’t say they were perfect or even 100 percent right decisions. Presidents say and do stupid things, since, with one exception, they are terribly human.
Presidents have too much power, starting with being able to blow up the world just on their say so. At the same time, a handful of extremist Republicans in Congress can stalemate a president, bring the economy to a dead stop, betray our allies and cancel reform.
Biden generally goes in the right direction dealing with foreign affairs, the environment, social welfare, transportation, the economy, civil rights, issues like abortion and gun control and the many, many things that that government can do to help rather than hurt people.
Is he too old? Yes. Of course, 81-years is too old. But is there a better Democrat – better known to most voters – to run in 2024? Absolutely not.
Would Biden rather not be seeking a second term? He actually said so a few weeks ago – that if Trump weren’t the likely opponent, Joe probably wouldn’t be in the race.
It’s good to have a good person in charge.
DEMOCRACY IS IN PERIL
THIS IS A GOOD THING, you ask?
Of course not. But recognizing the crisis facing democracy is an essential step to preserving our flawed, inspired experiment in self-government.
For a long time, most of us been under the illusion that because Biden returned the country to normal after the Trump chaos that everything will be okay. The political press continues to report mainly on polls, who’s ahead and not, rather than the life-and-death consequences of the 2024 election.
In the words of Liz Cheney, democracy’s most eloquent advocate, we have been sleepwalking toward dictatorship.
But as the year is ending, millions of people are waking up to the certainty that a Trump second term will be a catastrophe.
There have been a slew of news stories about Trump’s plans – and the many people who will be helping him – to create a cruel and wide-ranging authoritarian regime from which we cannot recover.
The best example is The Atlantic magazine’s year-end issue, headlined “If Trump Wins,” in which 24 writers project what will happen. The Department of Justice will hunt down Trump’s enemies; a demonic program will detain, then drive immigrants from the country; the Insurrection Act will send the military to quell protests.
Most Americans don’t read The Atlantic, the New York Times and the Washington Post – none of which have the influence they did just a few years ago. But I trust they and other media will continue to spell out the consequences of the Nov. 5 election, and those warnings will be a factor in the outcome.
THE TRUMP INDICTMENTS
Is he too old? Yes. Of course, 81-years is too old. But is there a better Democrat – better known to most voters – to run in 2024? Absolutely not.
Would Biden rather not be seeking a second term? He actually said so a few weeks ago – that if Trump weren’t the likely opponent, Joe probably wouldn’t be in the race.
It’s good to have a good person in charge.
DEMOCRACY IS IN PERIL
THIS IS A GOOD THING, you ask?
Of course not. But recognizing the crisis facing democracy is an essential step to preserving our flawed, inspired experiment in self-government.
For a long time, most of us been under the illusion that because Biden returned the country to normal after the Trump chaos that everything will be okay. The political press continues to report mainly on polls, who’s ahead and not, rather than the life-and-death consequences of the 2024 election.
In the words of Liz Cheney, democracy’s most eloquent advocate, we have been sleepwalking toward dictatorship.
But as the year is ending, millions of people are waking up to the certainty that a Trump second term will be a catastrophe.
There have been a slew of news stories about Trump’s plans – and the many people who will be helping him – to create a cruel and wide-ranging authoritarian regime from which we cannot recover.
The best example is The Atlantic magazine’s year-end issue, headlined “If Trump Wins,” in which 24 writers project what will happen. The Department of Justice will hunt down Trump’s enemies; a demonic program will detain, then drive immigrants from the country; the Insurrection Act will send the military to quell protests.
Most Americans don’t read The Atlantic, the New York Times and the Washington Post – none of which have the influence they did just a few years ago. But I trust they and other media will continue to spell out the consequences of the Nov. 5 election, and those warnings will be a factor in the outcome.
THE TRUMP INDICTMENTS
ONE OF THE WEIRDEST, almost supernatural things about Trump is how quickly we get used to how evil he is and the terrible things he does.
“That’s just Trump,” we say, no matter what he says or does.
We quickly acclimated to the fact that he’s the first ex-president not only to be indicted for a crime, but for a bunch of crimes.
But they should shock us every day:
Trump is being held to account for some of his worst activities.
It goes to the heart of our democracy, that no man is above the law. Which is in contrast to Trump’s comment years ago that he could shoot someone in the middle of Manhattan and he'll get away with it.
Why aren’t these devastating charges part of every political news story? Why doesn't every headline include the word "crook?"
For one thing, because Trump’s cult doesn't care.
In fact, his polling has improved as the charges have accumulated, and particularly, the Republican party and congressional leaders treat Trump as a victim rather than a serial criminal.
Another counter-force is that we are used to Trump getting away with his bad behavior, so the question is not that he’s been charged, but how he’ll wriggle free.
Still, the positive point is that there is a serious, well-documented attempt to bring him to justice.
And it’s going to happen. One of these days....
THE BAD
DANGEROUS VOTERS
THE WEBSITE , REAL CLEAR POLITICS, has this hypothetical match up between Joe Biden and Donald Trump, with less than 11 months to go before the Nov. 5 election:
Trump: 46.8 percent
Biden: 44.5 percent
It's insane.
We know so much about Trump, including his attempt to change the election outcome, culminating with the insurrection at the Capitol, in which some of the rioters hoped to hang Trump’s vice president.
In office, out of office, Donald Trump is a vile and dangerous man, an insult to our politics. He is a racist, a rapist, a cheat, a liar and a bully whose controlling ethic is cruelty.
When he won the 2016 election, there was a question as to what he’d really be like as president. The answer was immediate, and by the end of his four-year term, there was a long, long bill of particulars.
Now, with all that is known, how can any voter, any of our neighbors, friends, family members and fellow pet owners, look on Trump with anything but contempt? That they act otherwise is astonishing and deeply disturbing. The people we love and respect, cheering on Trump?
But that's what is happening.
For me, Trump's support became shockingly clear when the New York Times on Nov. 5 - a year from the election - published a poll of voters in six swing states showing Trump winning in five of them.
“That’s just Trump,” we say, no matter what he says or does.
We quickly acclimated to the fact that he’s the first ex-president not only to be indicted for a crime, but for a bunch of crimes.
But they should shock us every day:
- The Aug. 1 indictment brought by Jack Smith, the Department of Justice's special counsel, charging Trump with a multi-pronged effort to overthrow the 2020 election.
- The Aug. 14 racketeering indictment brought in Georgia charging Trump and his confederates with an organized attempt to reverse the election.
- The June 9 Smith indictment charging Trump with taking and mishandling classified documents, some of which involved nuclear warfare, as he left office.
- The March 30 indictment in New York charging Trump with falsifying records in connection with alleged hush payments to porn star Stormy Daniels about an alleged sexual encounter with Trump.
Trump is being held to account for some of his worst activities.
It goes to the heart of our democracy, that no man is above the law. Which is in contrast to Trump’s comment years ago that he could shoot someone in the middle of Manhattan and he'll get away with it.
Why aren’t these devastating charges part of every political news story? Why doesn't every headline include the word "crook?"
For one thing, because Trump’s cult doesn't care.
In fact, his polling has improved as the charges have accumulated, and particularly, the Republican party and congressional leaders treat Trump as a victim rather than a serial criminal.
Another counter-force is that we are used to Trump getting away with his bad behavior, so the question is not that he’s been charged, but how he’ll wriggle free.
Still, the positive point is that there is a serious, well-documented attempt to bring him to justice.
And it’s going to happen. One of these days....
THE BAD
DANGEROUS VOTERS
THE WEBSITE , REAL CLEAR POLITICS, has this hypothetical match up between Joe Biden and Donald Trump, with less than 11 months to go before the Nov. 5 election:
Trump: 46.8 percent
Biden: 44.5 percent
It's insane.
We know so much about Trump, including his attempt to change the election outcome, culminating with the insurrection at the Capitol, in which some of the rioters hoped to hang Trump’s vice president.
In office, out of office, Donald Trump is a vile and dangerous man, an insult to our politics. He is a racist, a rapist, a cheat, a liar and a bully whose controlling ethic is cruelty.
When he won the 2016 election, there was a question as to what he’d really be like as president. The answer was immediate, and by the end of his four-year term, there was a long, long bill of particulars.
Now, with all that is known, how can any voter, any of our neighbors, friends, family members and fellow pet owners, look on Trump with anything but contempt? That they act otherwise is astonishing and deeply disturbing. The people we love and respect, cheering on Trump?
But that's what is happening.
For me, Trump's support became shockingly clear when the New York Times on Nov. 5 - a year from the election - published a poll of voters in six swing states showing Trump winning in five of them.
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That's when I started getting out of bed every morning with a sick feeling, understanding that the monster is back. I'm sure that lots of people are feeling the same way, especially since many subsequent polls are showing the pre-election trends.
You can argue that pollsters are asking the wrong questions. They should be asking voters not whether they prefer Biden or Trump, but how many years Donald John Trump, aka "The Defendant," should serve in prison.
Pundits, at least some of them, assure us that it’s too early for polls to be valid.
They are wrong.
The polls may and usually do have lots of flaws. But this isn't the time to niggle over the margin of error or whether the wrong smart phones are being called.
It's clear that a lot of people want Donald Trump to be president. And that a lot of others don't want Joe Biden to be president.
It's terrible. And the challenge of our lifetime.
THE HOTTEST YEAR
You can argue that pollsters are asking the wrong questions. They should be asking voters not whether they prefer Biden or Trump, but how many years Donald John Trump, aka "The Defendant," should serve in prison.
Pundits, at least some of them, assure us that it’s too early for polls to be valid.
They are wrong.
The polls may and usually do have lots of flaws. But this isn't the time to niggle over the margin of error or whether the wrong smart phones are being called.
It's clear that a lot of people want Donald Trump to be president. And that a lot of others don't want Joe Biden to be president.
It's terrible. And the challenge of our lifetime.
THE HOTTEST YEAR
FORT ADAMS STATE PARK, Dec. 26. The grass shouldn't be green. That other stuff should be snow, not fog. It's not "nice" weather. It's a warning
IN NEWPORT, the grass is green. It’s December.
There has been no snow of note in Rhode Island. It’s winter.
Our front porch thermometer reads 49 degrees Fahrenheit. It’s “nice" in our corner of New England, except it’s not supposed to be.
The year 2023 will be declared as the hottest ever on Earth. Ever – as in ever since we've been writing on the walls of caves.
The record estimates are from the World Meteorological Organization and other tracking organizations, such as the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service.
It means there’s a good chance that humans will destroy themselves and their home planet.
The climate crisis already has reached Old Testament scale: wildfires, floods, hurricanes, blizzards, tornadoes, rising sea levels, habitat-destroying, people-killing heat waves.
It’s may be too late to stop the collapse of the environment. And, if elected, Trump will do everything he can to hurry things along.
The irony is that we probably have enough technology – wind turbines, solar panels, electric cars, smarter farming – to put this into reverse.
Millions of people want to save their planet, their home.
But so far, not enough people are doing enough things to force governments and industries to stop the murder of Earth.
THE ISRAELI-PALESTINE WAR
HAMAS DID NOT have to attack Israel on Oct. 7.
Israel did not have to destroy Gaza in the months that followed.
Actual human beings are responsible for both atrocities.
Even if we are not in Israel or Gaza, it is possible for us as onlookers to understand how both sides see the conflict.
No one who survived the Hamas attack will forget or forgive the savagery and slaughter. If you are a Jew, a centuries-old peril is instantly refreshed. The Holocaust is no longer ancient history; it happened last night or yesterday. “Never again” means that, as a Jew, you never again can feel safe, and you never again will be safe.
If you are a Palestinian, you might have survived the months of Israel's retaliation, but you may not make it through tomorrow.
The death toll is now over 20,000, many of the dead are children. Your home is rubble. You are being starved and sickened. You are told where to go next to escape the next bombing run, but it is a lie. Israel’s retaliation is a massive, unforgivable war crime.
If you are Israeli or Palestinian there is no reason to stop killing, maiming and hating. Only a fool would tell you that.
There has been no snow of note in Rhode Island. It’s winter.
Our front porch thermometer reads 49 degrees Fahrenheit. It’s “nice" in our corner of New England, except it’s not supposed to be.
The year 2023 will be declared as the hottest ever on Earth. Ever – as in ever since we've been writing on the walls of caves.
The record estimates are from the World Meteorological Organization and other tracking organizations, such as the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service.
It means there’s a good chance that humans will destroy themselves and their home planet.
The climate crisis already has reached Old Testament scale: wildfires, floods, hurricanes, blizzards, tornadoes, rising sea levels, habitat-destroying, people-killing heat waves.
It’s may be too late to stop the collapse of the environment. And, if elected, Trump will do everything he can to hurry things along.
The irony is that we probably have enough technology – wind turbines, solar panels, electric cars, smarter farming – to put this into reverse.
Millions of people want to save their planet, their home.
But so far, not enough people are doing enough things to force governments and industries to stop the murder of Earth.
THE ISRAELI-PALESTINE WAR
HAMAS DID NOT have to attack Israel on Oct. 7.
Israel did not have to destroy Gaza in the months that followed.
Actual human beings are responsible for both atrocities.
Even if we are not in Israel or Gaza, it is possible for us as onlookers to understand how both sides see the conflict.
No one who survived the Hamas attack will forget or forgive the savagery and slaughter. If you are a Jew, a centuries-old peril is instantly refreshed. The Holocaust is no longer ancient history; it happened last night or yesterday. “Never again” means that, as a Jew, you never again can feel safe, and you never again will be safe.
If you are a Palestinian, you might have survived the months of Israel's retaliation, but you may not make it through tomorrow.
The death toll is now over 20,000, many of the dead are children. Your home is rubble. You are being starved and sickened. You are told where to go next to escape the next bombing run, but it is a lie. Israel’s retaliation is a massive, unforgivable war crime.
If you are Israeli or Palestinian there is no reason to stop killing, maiming and hating. Only a fool would tell you that.
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DICTATORSHIP --
OR DEMOCRACY?
THE MEDIA FINALLY WAKES UP
TO THE STAKES IN ELECTION 2024
DICTATOR IN WAITING -- Donald Trump at one of his court hearings
AT LAST, the nation’s top news outlets are being frank about the peril posed by the 2024 election: Donald Trump, if elected, will turn the United States into a dictatorship.
One of the boldest examples of this candor is the decision by The Atlantic magazine to devote its January-February edition to 24 articles by its contributors, who explore the consequences of a Trump victory, under the heading If Trump Wins.
One of the articles, already online, is headlined, The Danger Ahead, in which David Frum describes the consequences of a Trump victory:
One of the boldest examples of this candor is the decision by The Atlantic magazine to devote its January-February edition to 24 articles by its contributors, who explore the consequences of a Trump victory, under the heading If Trump Wins.
One of the articles, already online, is headlined, The Danger Ahead, in which David Frum describes the consequences of a Trump victory:
| A second Trump term would instantly plunge the country into a constitutional crisis more terrible than anything seen since the Civil War. Even in the turmoil of the 1960s, even during the Great Depression, the country had a functional government with the president as its head. But the government cannot function with an indicted or convicted criminal as its head. The president would be an outlaw, or on his way to becoming an outlaw. For his own survival, he would have to destroy the rule of law. |
 | Other Atlantic writers deal with the many ways that Trump and his supporters are planning to destroy American democracy: remaking the Department of Justice to go after his enemies; abandoning NATO; packing the federal bureaucracy with loyalists who’ll carry out Trump’s orders; what will happen to core issues such as climate change, immigration and civil rights; and the many challenges faced by journalism. |
THE WASHINGTON POST, meanwhile, featured a long, detailed piece on Nov. 30 by one of its opinion writers, Robert Kagan, that began with this chilling headline:
A TRUMP DICTATORSHIP IS INCREASINGLY INEVITABLE. WE SHOULD STOP PRETENDING.
A TRUMP DICTATORSHIP IS INCREASINGLY INEVITABLE. WE SHOULD STOP PRETENDING.
| For many months now, we have been living in a world of self-delusion, rich with imagined possibilities. * Such hopeful speculation has allowed us to drift along passively, conducting business as usual, taking no dramatic action to change course, in the hope and expectation that something will happen. * Like people on a riverboat, we have long known there is a waterfall ahead but assume we will somehow find our way to shore before we go over the edge.” |
The New York Times, in a series of articles, has detailed the depth of plans by Trump and right wing groups, including this this Dec. 4 piece:
HOW TRUMP AND HIS ALLIES PLAN TO WIELD POWER OF 2025
HOW TRUMP AND HIS ALLIES PLAN TO WIELD POWER OF 2025
| Since launching his 2024 presidential campaign, Donald J. Trump has said the “termination” of the Constitution would have been justified to overturn the 2020 election, told followers “I am your retribution” and vowed to use the Justice Department to prosecute his adversaries — starting with President Biden and his family. * Beneath these public threats is a series of plans by Mr. Trump and his allies that would upend core elements of American governance, democracy, foreign policy and the rule of law if he regained the White House. * Since leaving office, Mr. Trump’s advisers and allies at a network of well-funded groups have advanced policies, created lists of potential personnel and started shaping new legal scaffolding — laying the groundwork for a second Trump presidency they hope will commence on Jan. 20, 2025. |
Among the drastic plans are those aimed at undocumented immigrants, the Times’ article explained:
| Mr. Trump is planning an assault on immigration on a scale unseen in modern American history. Millions of undocumented immigrants would be barred from the country or uprooted from it years or even decades after settling here. Bolstered by agents reassigned from other federal law enforcement agencies and state police and the National Guard, officials with Immigration and Customs Enforcement would carry out sweeping raids aimed at deporting millions of people each year. Military funds would be used to erect sprawling camps to hold undocumented detainees. A public-health emergency law would be invoked to shut down asylum requests by people arriving at the border. And the government would try to end birthright citizenship for babies born on U.S. soil to undocumented parents. |
Back in April, Washington Post reporters similarly explored details of Trump’s plans:
TRUMP TOUTS AUTHORITARIAN VISION FOR SECOND TERM: 'I AM YOUR JUSTICE.
TRUMP TOUTS AUTHORITARIAN VISION FOR SECOND TERM: 'I AM YOUR JUSTICE.
| Mandatory stop-and-frisk. Deploying the military to fight street crime, break up gangs and deport immigrants. Purging the federal workforce and charging leakers. Former president Donald Trump has steadily begun outlining his vision for a second-term agenda, focusing on unfinished business from his time in the White House and an expansive vision for how he would wield federal power. In online videos and stump speeches, Trump is pledging to pick up where his first term left off and push even further. |
Trump himself has added to these the grim forecasts. Campaigning in Claremont, New Hampshire last month, he made this widely quoted declaration, which some experts compared to the kind of language used by authoritarian leaders, the Post reported on Nov. 12:
TRUMP CALLS POLITICAL ENEMIES 'VERMIN,'ECHOING DICTATORS HITLER, MUSSOLINI
| Former president Donald Trump denigrated his domestic opponents and critics during a Veterans Day speech Saturday, calling those on the other side of the aisle “vermin” and suggesting that they pose a greater threat to the United States than countries such as Russia, China or North Korea. That language is drawing rebuke from historians, who compared it to that of authoritarian leaders. "We pledge to you that we will root out the communists, Marxists, fascists and the radical left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country that lie and steal and cheat on elections,” Trump said toward the end of his speech, repeating his false claims that the 2020 election was stolen. "They’ll do anything, whether legally or illegally, to destroy America and to destroy the American Dream." |
The Times devoted one article on Dec. 5 to Trump’s various speeches and social media posts: DONALD TRUMP'S 2024 CAMPAIGN, IN HIS OWN MENACING WORDS
The Times cited 69 quotes. Here’s a sampling:
The Times cited 69 quotes. Here’s a sampling:
 |
WILL THIS INCREASED ATTENTION to the election’s outcome make a difference?
I doubt that the barrage of news and opinion articles will change the minds of Trump cultists. Indeed, the wording is so apocalyptic that many will dismiss it as confirmation that a liberal media is indeed is partisan and biased.
But I’m guessing that it will help put the election in its proper perspective, emphasizing that Trump is hardly just another candidate, but instead he's a figure that could change the course of national and world history, putting the country into a downward, irreversible slide into authoritarianism.
This has not an easy call for editors and leaders of these news organizations, who remain uncomfortable with finally having to tell it like it is.
Jeffrey Goldberg, editor of The Atlantic, explained the magazine’s decision, to devote an entire edition about the consequences of a Trump victory in an article headlined: A WARNING:
I doubt that the barrage of news and opinion articles will change the minds of Trump cultists. Indeed, the wording is so apocalyptic that many will dismiss it as confirmation that a liberal media is indeed is partisan and biased.
But I’m guessing that it will help put the election in its proper perspective, emphasizing that Trump is hardly just another candidate, but instead he's a figure that could change the course of national and world history, putting the country into a downward, irreversible slide into authoritarianism.
This has not an easy call for editors and leaders of these news organizations, who remain uncomfortable with finally having to tell it like it is.
Jeffrey Goldberg, editor of The Atlantic, explained the magazine’s decision, to devote an entire edition about the consequences of a Trump victory in an article headlined: A WARNING:
| The Atlantic, as our loyal readers know, is deliberately not a partisan magazine. “Of no party or clique” is our original 1857 motto, and it is true today. Our concern with Trump is not that he is a Republican, or that he embraces—when convenient—certain conservative ideas. We believe that a democracy needs, among other things, a strong liberal party and a strong conservative party in order to flourish. Our concern is that the Republican Party has mortgaged itself to an antidemocratic demagogue, one who is completely devoid of decency. |
A CASE CAN BE MADE that there's a self-serving motive for these journalistic warnings, since the media itself would be in Trump’s crosshairs:
Earlier this week, a former Trump advisor, Kash Patel, who could have a role in a second administration, said on a podcast that the media would be a principal target, the Associated Press reported Dec. 5:
A SECOND TRUMP ADMINISTRATION WILL 'COME AFTER' PEOPLE IN THE MEDIA IN THE COURTS, AN ALLY SAYS
Earlier this week, a former Trump advisor, Kash Patel, who could have a role in a second administration, said on a podcast that the media would be a principal target, the Associated Press reported Dec. 5:
A SECOND TRUMP ADMINISTRATION WILL 'COME AFTER' PEOPLE IN THE MEDIA IN THE COURTS, AN ALLY SAYS
| Kash Patel, who was also chief of staff in the Defense Department and held a role on the National Security Council, made the comment on Steve Bannon’s podcast. He said that, in a second Trump administration, “We will go out and find the conspirators not just in government, but in the media,” over the 2020 election, which Trump lost to Democrat Joe Biden. “We will go out and find the conspirators, not just in government but in the media,” Patel said. “Yes, we’re going to come after the people in the media who lied about American citizens, who helped Joe Biden rig presidential elections — we’re going to come after you." |
This, of course, is old news, since Trump, going back to his presidency, has long been at war with news outlets. In a post on his “Truth Social” platform on Sept. 24, Trump declared:
| I say up front, openly, and proudly, that when I WIN the Presidency of the United States, they and others of the LameStream Media will be thoroughly scrutinized for their knowingly dishonest and corrupt coverage of people, things, and events. Why should NBC, or any other of the corrupt & dishonest media companies, be entitled to use the very valuable Airwaves of the USA, FREE? They are a true threat to Democracy and are, in fact, THE ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE! The Fake News Media should pay a big price for what they have done to our once great Country! |
YOU CAN ARGUE that the media is emphasizing the danger of a Trump dictatorship because it’s worried about its own skin.
To which I say: Good.
It’s about time the press realized that it’s likely to be among the first targets of a dictatorship, as has been the case historically when authoritarians take control.
So, yes, the media’s increased focus on the election's outcome may be as much about its own survival as it is concern for the future of the country.
Which does not make its warnings less true.
My concern is that the media will back away from these explicit warnings, saying that “We covered that back in December,” rather than making the alarms a regular feature of campaign coverage.
This is an election that we should all take personally. A dictatorship will attack every aspect of society – schools, business, the environment, agriculture, science, health care, entertainment.
No one will be spared. Everything will be worse.
Every single American is at risk in a Trump dictatorship.
This is an election in which we all need to vote as if our lives depend on it.
Because that’s the fact.
To which I say: Good.
It’s about time the press realized that it’s likely to be among the first targets of a dictatorship, as has been the case historically when authoritarians take control.
So, yes, the media’s increased focus on the election's outcome may be as much about its own survival as it is concern for the future of the country.
Which does not make its warnings less true.
My concern is that the media will back away from these explicit warnings, saying that “We covered that back in December,” rather than making the alarms a regular feature of campaign coverage.
This is an election that we should all take personally. A dictatorship will attack every aspect of society – schools, business, the environment, agriculture, science, health care, entertainment.
No one will be spared. Everything will be worse.
Every single American is at risk in a Trump dictatorship.
This is an election in which we all need to vote as if our lives depend on it.
Because that’s the fact.
BRIAN C. JONES
I'VE BEEN a reporter and writer for 60 years, long enough to have learned that journalists don't know very much, although I've met some smart ones.
Mainly, what reporters know comes from asking other people questions and fretting about their answers.
This blog is a successor to one inspired by our dog, Phoebe, who was smart, sweet and the antithesis of Donald Trump. She died Feb. 3, 2022, and I don't see getting over that very soon.
Occasionally, I think about trying to reach her via cell phone.
Mainly, what reporters know comes from asking other people questions and fretting about their answers.
This blog is a successor to one inspired by our dog, Phoebe, who was smart, sweet and the antithesis of Donald Trump. She died Feb. 3, 2022, and I don't see getting over that very soon.
Occasionally, I think about trying to reach her via cell phone.
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