Even if you think Flynn is innocent or that there really was some sort of voter fraud, as Trump claims (sans conclusive evidence, as usual)... Even if you think, as I do knowing their joint-history since at least the 40's and 50's, that a majority of the print and electronic press and general media establishment is inherently liberal, how can anyone defend Trump as he either picks or continues these sorts of petty fights and squabbles in the face of a LOT of more important issues that he has not only promised to address, but which can only be effectively addressed, long term, with the cooperation of some of the very people with whom he continues to fight? Flynn has been gone for almost two days now and, legally, Trump won the very election that he is now saying was rigged, anyway! Even if Trump could somehow win these battles and sway most of the rest of the country to his side, though it seems highly unlikely right now, he's not going to be the President forever. In my opinion, he'll be lucky to make it four years. The point, though, is that these news outlets and a lot of these people in the press are going to be out there, doing their jobs, long after Trump is out of the White House and maybe even after his life on Earth has ended. And lest anyone think that Trump's call is for more fairness in the press, in general... IT ISN'T! Most if not all of the time, what Trump is demanding is more fairness towards HIM and HIS people - neither in general or even towards his own party (for now), the Republican Party.
I'm a Republican. In my personal life and the way I believe I should live, I'm very conservative - even more than I let on nowadays much of the time. Superficially, at least, or just in general, I share or agree with most if not all of Trump's political desires and goals whether I agree with the way he goes about addressing and accomplishing them or not (up to now). However, to those that still support and/or like Trump, exactly what do you think he stands to accomplish in all of this except, maybe, to undermine and handicap his own administration and agenda and, worse, to seriously threaten or even destroy what little is left of the USA's supposedly free and objective press (because so many outlets are run by for-profit companies with commercial and political agendas of their own or of their leaders)? For crying out loud, there are even people on Fox News now that are coming about as close as I've ever heard them come to questioning or seriously criticizing a Republican President in the way they talk sometimes about Donald Trump and his administration... if "administration" is even the right word for what Trump has up there.
And by the way, for those that dislike Trump even more than I do, here's another battle that I think should be fought: The fact that at least three, maybe four or more MAJOR news anchors as well as commentators on Fox News have long-standing and openly personal relationships with President Trump going back to before the campaign. While Bill O'Reilly at least tries a little nowadays to be fair and appropriately critical (whether he succeeds or not), Sean Hannity, in particular, has had what seem to be frequent, one-on-one interviews with Trump going back long before election day and continuing now. Since Trump started gaining serious momentum in the primaries, Hannity and others suddenly started talking like Trump and using terms like "the establishment," even in regards to fellow Republicans, that they had rarely if ever used before on a regular basis. So what's my problem with this?
My problem is that it seems to not only represent bias and favoritism, but unusual and (as far as I know) unrivaled ACCESS to the President of the United States and, by extension, a significant outlet to be used by this highly controversial president to promote and spin his agenda and actions in a way that I can't recall being the case for Obama or G.W. Bush or any other President, at least in my lifetime! It's particularly concerning given the fact that this President clearly hates and openly antagonizes pretty much every other news and media outlet to one degree or another - which, I think, only feeds and even VALIDATES both the press' anti-Trump and/or anti-conservative bias as well as what, to this degree, is Trump's anti-press or "fake news" paranoia. Even if much of the press adored President Obama and treated him and his administration with kid gloves sometimes or even most of the time, I don't recall Obama appearing as often in such a short span of time on only ONE news network or with only only one or two, maybe three anchors and/or interviewers.
The relationship that Trump seems to have with Fox, in particular, scares me in that it reminds me of the Third Reich, which many reference without much if any mention of the fact that it came to be solely led by a former art student who, for whatever nefarious purposes, personally designed the most commonly referenced red, white, and black Nazi flag as well as demonstrated and basically pioneered new, arguably unseen levels of national/military pageantry and propaganda since, to my knowledge, at least the heyday of the imperial Roman Empire. As I understand it, in Fascism and Nazism, otherwise privately owned and, for the most part, privately operated companies were nevertheless required to work for and on behalf of the State with, at times, State assistance. That Trump doesn't actually own or run Fox News, personally, is the only silver lining that I can see, but he surely knows Rupert Murdoch and, for all we know, probably has or did have stock in Fox's parent company.
Now, maybe - just maybe - I am or will ultimately be proven wrong about some or even all of this, particularly when it comes to Fox and Trump's relationship and/or fight with the press. I sincerely hope that I am... or will be. At the end of the day, though, what disturbs me even more than all of this is the fact that it is actually what a lot of people voted for. This, very likely, is making Trump's more loyal supporters during the campaign VERY happy because, in their twisted and overly simplistic world view and sense of priorities, turning the tables and getting some kind of petty revenge upon the liberal media and anyone in government that disappointed or now opposes them or their ideas and agenda is at least as or more important than just about anything else right now - on par, I think, with their desire for more jobs and national security.
A lot of people seem to want to just impeach or oust Donald Trump from the White House and even think that something like that could be done, but even if that last part were true (whatever the odds of it actually happening), it would not be an effective solution and might actually make things worse. Why? Because given the fact that we do not decide national elections by popular vote - likely to ensure that hundreds of thousands or more votes in more rural, less populated areas are not wasted by what would be a candidate's ability to win with just a small handful of the largest and most densely populated states and districts - it would not only enrage, but arguably validate the rage of the sorts of people that voted for Trump who would then be able to come back and say that they were or have been singularly disrespected and shut-out of the American political process despite their ability to lawfully, if narrowly, elect someone like Trump to high office. Only if Trump's mistakes, now and in the future, are and appear to be his and his, alone - only if something like that serves to disappoint or change the minds of his supporters, perhaps discrediting their underlying ideology and/or version of what I believe to be FAKE Republican conservatism in the process - would such an ousting and change likely be more meaningful and lasting.
Believe me when I say, again, that I would rather be wrong and see Trump and his people do an about-face, get their acts together, and become more reasonable and mature in their pursuit of what I still think is or could be a basically sound and valuable agenda. Unless or until that happens, however, I stand my ground, not as a traitor to my Republican Party, but as a partisan patriot that wishes with all my heart to have it preserved as it officially came into being and into legitimacy with Lincoln in 1860 and as it was in the seventies and eighties and could be yet again.
My problem is that it seems to not only represent bias and favoritism, but unusual and (as far as I know) unrivaled ACCESS to the President of the United States and, by extension, a significant outlet to be used by this highly controversial president to promote and spin his agenda and actions in a way that I can't recall being the case for Obama or G.W. Bush or any other President, at least in my lifetime! It's particularly concerning given the fact that this President clearly hates and openly antagonizes pretty much every other news and media outlet to one degree or another - which, I think, only feeds and even VALIDATES both the press' anti-Trump and/or anti-conservative bias as well as what, to this degree, is Trump's anti-press or "fake news" paranoia. Even if much of the press adored President Obama and treated him and his administration with kid gloves sometimes or even most of the time, I don't recall Obama appearing as often in such a short span of time on only ONE news network or with only only one or two, maybe three anchors and/or interviewers.
The relationship that Trump seems to have with Fox, in particular, scares me in that it reminds me of the Third Reich, which many reference without much if any mention of the fact that it came to be solely led by a former art student who, for whatever nefarious purposes, personally designed the most commonly referenced red, white, and black Nazi flag as well as demonstrated and basically pioneered new, arguably unseen levels of national/military pageantry and propaganda since, to my knowledge, at least the heyday of the imperial Roman Empire. As I understand it, in Fascism and Nazism, otherwise privately owned and, for the most part, privately operated companies were nevertheless required to work for and on behalf of the State with, at times, State assistance. That Trump doesn't actually own or run Fox News, personally, is the only silver lining that I can see, but he surely knows Rupert Murdoch and, for all we know, probably has or did have stock in Fox's parent company.
Now, maybe - just maybe - I am or will ultimately be proven wrong about some or even all of this, particularly when it comes to Fox and Trump's relationship and/or fight with the press. I sincerely hope that I am... or will be. At the end of the day, though, what disturbs me even more than all of this is the fact that it is actually what a lot of people voted for. This, very likely, is making Trump's more loyal supporters during the campaign VERY happy because, in their twisted and overly simplistic world view and sense of priorities, turning the tables and getting some kind of petty revenge upon the liberal media and anyone in government that disappointed or now opposes them or their ideas and agenda is at least as or more important than just about anything else right now - on par, I think, with their desire for more jobs and national security.
A lot of people seem to want to just impeach or oust Donald Trump from the White House and even think that something like that could be done, but even if that last part were true (whatever the odds of it actually happening), it would not be an effective solution and might actually make things worse. Why? Because given the fact that we do not decide national elections by popular vote - likely to ensure that hundreds of thousands or more votes in more rural, less populated areas are not wasted by what would be a candidate's ability to win with just a small handful of the largest and most densely populated states and districts - it would not only enrage, but arguably validate the rage of the sorts of people that voted for Trump who would then be able to come back and say that they were or have been singularly disrespected and shut-out of the American political process despite their ability to lawfully, if narrowly, elect someone like Trump to high office. Only if Trump's mistakes, now and in the future, are and appear to be his and his, alone - only if something like that serves to disappoint or change the minds of his supporters, perhaps discrediting their underlying ideology and/or version of what I believe to be FAKE Republican conservatism in the process - would such an ousting and change likely be more meaningful and lasting.
Believe me when I say, again, that I would rather be wrong and see Trump and his people do an about-face, get their acts together, and become more reasonable and mature in their pursuit of what I still think is or could be a basically sound and valuable agenda. Unless or until that happens, however, I stand my ground, not as a traitor to my Republican Party, but as a partisan patriot that wishes with all my heart to have it preserved as it officially came into being and into legitimacy with Lincoln in 1860 and as it was in the seventies and eighties and could be yet again.
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I HATE censorship on principle, so all I ask is that if you decide to vehemently disagree with and challenge me, please endeavor to do so in as civil and specific a manner as possible, citing examples (if not always sources) to back up your claims. Other than that... have fun! Thanks. - JD...