Thursday, February 16, 2017

The President Still Has Freedom of Speech

A common complaint we're hearing from the left today is that Donald Trump is restricting freedom of the press, by ridiculing what he considers to be the least professional outlets and seeming to prefer questions from more friendly outlets. Oh the horror!

The implication seems to be the he is not allowed to express his opinion on matters of the media. Nevermind there is no sort of legal basis for such a demand, but there is no sort of a moral argument either. The only argument they seem to make is appeal to fear: the presidential criticisms are merely the first step down the path of media suppression seen in dictatorships. Let him call CNN fake news today (actually it's now very fake news) and tomorrow the press conferences will be concluded with Stalinesque standing ovations that go on for 20 and 30 minutes because each man in the room is deathly terrified of being the first to stop clapping.

If Trump is a dictator stifling freedom of the press then why is every single outlet still free to engage in nonstop Trump bashing? Is a message that boils down to "you're very bad at your job" really the same as being violently repressed? Just how soft are these people?

Liberals have 0, at most, empathy for the man. They'll say "he doesn't deserve it" but who cares if they're right or not. Lack of empathy is the core of sociopathy whether the trait is justified or not. Can you imagine how you'd feel about a media establishment that for months broadcast in the snarkiest tones that you were a racist, a Nazi, and a rapist? Even today, and I watched a small portion of the conference, one reporter decided to use his time to interrogate Trump about his anti-Semitism. Can you imagine that? Trump has never said anything remotely anti-Semitic, his own daughter has converted to Judaism, his son-in-law is an Orthodox Jew whom he has made a key advisor, he just hosted the Israeli PM (who can't sing the praises of Trump highly enough)....and he has to listen to constant lecturing from morons about anti-Semitism. If anything it might be logical to question that he is perhaps too friendly towards the Jews and the state of Israel.

Surely I spend too much time venting about these things. Of course the bleating of a dying industry, constantly outmatched by someone they perceive to be an imbecile, has no sort of logical foundation. As such writing these posts serve primarily as a therapeutic exercise to the writer with little additional value, save that hopefully the reader finds some comfort and grounding in them as well. If you're like me and you spend even a few minutes on mainstream media or facebook (good Lord it's nothing but angsty liberals these days) you'll also need a stiff drink and a strong pull off the proverbial logic bong by the end of the day.

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