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posted by martyb on Friday November 23 2018, @07:35PM   Printer-friendly
from the disinvite dept.

Free press isn't free under White House's onerous rules (Editorial)

Muzzling the press is chapter one in the authoritarian ruler's playbook. By the Founders' design, the president of the United States is not a king or dictator. He doesn't control the media, or get to decide which reporters are assigned to cover him.

A free press isn't free if the government imposes rules on what reporters can ask and how they must ask it. That violates the First Amendment. Period.

Banning reporters from asking follow-up questions or challenging the president's statements, under threat of taking away their access to the White House, hobbles the watchdog function of the media. White House reporters will be looking over their shoulders, calibrating the consequences, every time they ask tough questions. Meanwhile, the president will be able to dodge accountability and lie to the American people with even more impunity.


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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 23 2018, @09:37PM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 23 2018, @09:37PM (#765690)

    "Obama was to the right of Nixon"

    That is insane. Like orders of magnitude. It is a generational difference in society between those two which might have you confused, the advent of the "turrist!" insanity virus really did a totalitarian number on the US.

    The left does exist, just not quite that well in the DNC and certainly not the corporate criminals of the GOP, but it is there. Go away with your "all sides the same give up now!@!" routine.

  • (Score: 2, Informative) by Runaway1956 on Friday November 23 2018, @10:35PM

    by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Friday November 23 2018, @10:35PM (#765712) Journal

    Actually, GP isn't all that crazy. The right of the 1960's has splintered, been diluted, but at the same time, moved a little further right. The left of the 1960's has moved very far right of their old positions. Today, the "left" in the US is more authoritarian than the right is.

    You can search for terms like "political compass" and "political spectrum", but this page seems to address the issue well enough: http://factmyth.com/the-left-right-political-spectrum-explained/ [factmyth.com]

    If one favors liberty, equality, and/or policies that affect the collective equally (like classical liberalism, social liberalism, or communism at the far-left), they are generally said to be taking a “left-wing” stance (they needn’t embrace all these things, just one or more). TIP: Other key left-right positions include a long list of positions common to liberalism or socialism in any form, for example tolerance and progressiveness.
            If one favors authority, hierarchy, and/or policies that favor some individuals more than others (like classical conservatism, social conservatism, or fascism at the far-right), they are generally said to be taking a “right-wing” stance (again, they needn’t embrace all these to be taking a right-wing stance). TIP: Other key left-right positions are those common to conservatism in any form, for example order and traditionalism.
            If one takes a balanced position on liberty-authority, liberty-order, social equality-hierarchy, in favoring individuals or collectives, or in favoring progress or tradition (like center-left liberals and center-right conservatives), etc they are generally said to be taking a “center-wing” stance. TIP: A mixed left-right ideology is different from a “centered” stance. Center-wing describes a mean position between the left-wing and right-wing on a given issue, not a mix of left and right stances. For example, Communism and Fascism are far-left and far-right ideologies with a mix of left and right planks, they are not centered (they are “far” from it actually). Meanwhile true “small r” republicanism (the philosophical concept, not the party) can generally be considered center-wing due to it [ideally at least] using law and order to ensure justice and liberty in a free and democratic republic.

    Americans in general would do well to take one (or more) of the tests, to determine where they really stand. Many of us will be really surprised to learn where they really are on each of the axis. Left and right is just far too simplistic to be useful.