For two and a half centuries, Presidents have had a ‘love-hate’ relationship with the media. Even George Washington, John Adams, and Abraham Lincoln had tenious relationships with the press. As a matter of history, Lincoln even went so far as to “jail” some reporters who criticized his positions on the “Civil War.”
Most of us are old enough to remember how the press treated President Ford (for being a bumbling idiot), and Ronald Reagan for being a “B” movie actor who was not so cerebral when it came to intelligence. Then, of course, we had most of the mass media calling Presidents Clinton and George W. Bush “country bumpkins,” and it only got worse from there.
Bill Clinton came under a constant barrage of harassment and daily scrutiny from talk radio and, particularly, Rush Limbaugh, who at the time had a listening audience of over 20,000,000 Americans weekly. Did he deserve the treatment he received? His dealings with White House interns certainly didn’t help his public image, but nonetheless, he was bashed for eight long years.
I cannot say it any better than this article from 2018 in “The Daily Signal,” where the author details seven former Presidents who had contentious relationships with the media.
Without question, our most cherished, revered, and protected Constitutional Amendment is the First Amendment, which addresses ‘freedom of speech.’ It is so protected that the Supreme Court even ruled that the American flag could be burned as a form of free speech.
I have long been regarded as about as “hard-core” a conservative as one can be. In most of my articles on this website, you’ll read about my passions for the “right side” of politics and social constructs. However, when it comes to our latest attacks by President Trump on the mass media, I’m having a serious issue with his position.
It seems that Donald Trump is now looking into ways of shutting down ABC, NBC, CBS, and more because he doesn’t care for the way they cover him and report on his daily activities as President. There is little disputing that the days of Walter Cronkite, Harry Reasoner, and even Dan Rather are gone. Today’s media has, without argument, become more politicized and tends to offer up their ‘opinions’ rather than the hardcore news.
Twenty-first-century media in America has given us late-night “talk shows” that often criticize the President, daytime opinion shows such as “The View,” and numerous others, which are left-leaning and dislike President Trump.
But what happens if the President does manage to shut down his critics by removing them all from the airwaves? Can you imagine? Many in MAGA nation would obviously love this, but the fallout would be catastrophic for free speech in our country. We are already witnessing what happens when free speech is restricted in countries such as Great Britain. You can now be arrested if you make a derogatory comment in London about transgender people, Gays, or Muslims. Is this where the United States is headed? Apparently so, as we now have companies in this country that will terminate you if you so much as breathe a negative word about “protected” segments of our society.
My personal take on this issue is this.
Our First Amendment is sacred, period! It is to be left alone, and if you’re a member of some fringe group (IE, Transgender) and don’t like what people say, then stay home. If you’re the President, then realize that 45 other presidents before you have faced as much criticism from the media as you have, and perhaps you need to have thicker skin. Get over it! Ignore the press as Reagan did.
Your job as President of these United States is to protect our Constitution, which includes the First Amendment. Whether you like what people say or not, again, “Get Over It.” There are some 350,000,000 people in this nation. Half of them are not going to like what you do or say. Are you going to imprison 175,000,000 citizens because they criticize you?
Mr. President, stop your whining about he media, ignore them, and get on with your job. You’re doing fabulous yeoman’s work in many areas. Stop worrying about what “Little Jimmy Kimmel” says or the worn-out ladies on “The View.” Let them continue to flail about, and you keep being a great President.
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