“To see what is in front of one’s nose needs a constant struggle.”-George Orwell.
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Amidst the continuing malestrom of news, let’s note this via the NYT: Trump Threatens to Sue The Times and CNN Over Iran Reporting.
President Trump on Wednesday threatened to sue The New York Times and CNN for publishing articles about a preliminary intelligence report that said the American attack on Iran had set back the country’s nuclear program by only a few months.
In a letter to The Times, a personal lawyer for the president said the newspaper’s article had damaged Mr. Trump’s reputation and demanded that the news organization “retract and apologize for” the piece, which the letter described as “false,” “defamatory” and “unpatriotic.”
While I suspect that a suit will not be filed, this is not the action of a democratic, constitution-respecting politician. It is the action of an autocrat wannabe. It is, at a minimum, an attempt to intimidate news outlets for not reporting what Trump wants reported the way he wants it reported.
On social media, Mr. Trump has called for journalists at both news outlets to be fired; he has also claimed, without evidence, that the articles were intended to demean the military personnel who participated in the attacks.
[…]
The legal threat against The Times and CNN marked another escalation in Mr. Trump’s ongoing effort to demonize and delegitimize the independent news media that reports on his administration’s actions.
You know, exactly how the Founders intended!
