Defense Sec. James Mattis on Pres. Trump calling the press the "enemy of the American people": "I don't have any issues with the press."

[Weird Tolkienish Figure]

https://twitter.com/abcpolitics/status/833360930876641282

[EC]

Text of it? Some of us actively avoid twitter.

[Weird Tolkienish Figure]

Text of it? Some of us actively avoid twitter.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2017/02/19/defense-secretary-mattis-disagrees-with-trump-says-he-does-not-see-media-as-the-enemy/?utm_term=.bb26f1127b31


Is that a fireable offense in the Trump administration?

[corbe]

  From the Article:

“Welcome to democracy,” Mattis said. “It’s at times wildly contentious. It’s at times quite sporting. But the bottom line is this is the best form of government that we can come up with. So, the military’s job is to hold the line, and to hold the line, and to hold the line while our government sorts out the way ahead and our people speak. We don’t have any disarray inside the military, and that’s where my responsibility resides.”

   Proving, once again, Trump hit this one (Mattis) out of the park and for that I am grateful and appreciative.

[EC]

Yep.

[Chosen Daughter]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2017/02/19/defense-secretary-mattis-disagrees-with-trump-says-he-does-not-see-media-as-the-enemy/?utm_term=.bb26f1127b31


Is that a fireable offense in the Trump administration?

How far is Trump going to take this media thing.  Use common sense.  Every President in history has been criticized by the media.  Obama too and rightly so.  If it is obviously fake news then yes.  Like the news source that Trump used to spread fake news about Cruz' father.  That was a fake news story from a fake news source.  But there is something about the Russia connection and as much as Trump cries out fake news it will still come out.

If any politician was able to totally control which news source should be listened to declare it a dictatorship!

[Norm Lenhart]

Considering that the press is responsible for promoting the lie that Muslims are just like everyone else, to say nothing with propping up the political left going back to before Vietnam and a lot of his men are dead because of it, it's rather strange that he has no problem with them.

Maybe he should start having a problem.

[Chosen Daughter]

Considering that the press is responsible for promoting the lie that Muslims are just like everyone else, to say nothing with propping up the political left going back to before Vietnam and a lot of his men are dead because of it, it's rather strange that he has no problem with them.

Maybe he should start having a problem.

Lets just decide for all Americans whether we are able to distinguish truth from lies.

[Norm Lenhart]

Lets just decide for all Americans whether we are able to distinguish truth from lies.

Could you clarify that a bit? I'm nor sure where you're going with this.

[Chosen Daughter]

Could you clarify that a bit? I'm nor sure where you're going with this.

I don't know about you but I have always been able to distinguish whether there is a political bias.  That is what I am talking about.  Yes they may be successful at time to lead people in the wrong direction.  But to declare the entire media Fake news is to separate the public from all news except what in this case Trump declares to be true is dictatorship.  In history it can be seen in almost every single dictatorship there is.

[Weird Tolkienish Figure]

How far is Trump going to take this media thing.  Use common sense.  Every President in history has been criticized by the media.  Obama too and rightly so.  If it is obviously fake news then yes.  Like the news source that Trump used to spread fake news about Cruz' father.  That was a fake news story from a fake news source.  But there is something about the Russia connection and as much as Trump cries out fake news it will still come out.

If any politician was able to totally control which news source should be listened to declare it a dictatorship!

I don't know how far Trump will take the media thing. I reread his Twitter quote on Friday and I can't tell if it's just a clumsy way of him saying the media isn't his enemy.


I think it's obvious Bannon's in charge and at this point I have more confidence in Bannon than Trump, frankly. Things might move smoother if he were in charge at least.

[Norm Lenhart]

I don't know about you but I have always been able to distinguish whether there is a political bias.  That is what I am talking about.  Yes they may be successful at time to lead people in the wrong direction.  But to declare the entire media Fake news is to separate the public from all news except what in this case Trump declares to be true is dictatorship.  In history it can be seen in almost every single dictatorship there is.

I'm an ex journo. If the general public realized the level they were being lied to, you would not be concerned about protecting them. You;d be calling for lynchings. I have had editors come to my desk and tell me to change the freaking temperature in articles so as to not impact ads and regional tourism, stories on government bullshit spiked because the publisher was buddies with the pol involved and everything between.

There is no free press today. None. It is a complete illusion. Trump, for all his failings, is EDIT 100% right to take the media to task both barrels. Dictatorships areize because the press empowers them. The press is how the left makes inroads to the people.

Today, you have to trawl the net for bits and pieces of information to assemble whats actually true and what is complete crap. It sucks. It's a disaster waiting to happen and in fact it's happening/playing out now. It HAS been playing out fullscale at least since Clinton.

[skeeter]

I'm an ex journo. If the general public realized the level they were being lied to, you would not be concerned about protecting them. You;d be calling for lynchings. I have had editors come to my desk and tell me to change the freaking temperature in articles so as to not impact ads and regional tourism, stories on government bullshit spiked because the publisher was buddies with the pol involved and everything between.

There is no free press today. None. It is a complete illusion. Trump, for all his failings, is 10% right to take the media to task both barrels. Dictatorships areize because the press empowers them. The press is how the left makes inroads to the people.

Today, you have to trawl the net for bits and pieces of information to assemble whats actually true and what is complete crap. It sucks. It's a disaster waiting to happen and in fact it's happening/playing out now. It HAS been playing out fullscale at least since Clinton.

I never thought I'd see disagreement on a conservative board on whether the mainstream media exerts an unfair and intolerable leftward influence on public opinion.

[Norm Lenhart]

I never thought I'd see disagreement on a conservative board on whether the mainstream media exerts an unfair and intolerable leftward influence on public opinion.

Mandela Effect. apparently it's real.

[Suppressed]

There is no free press today. None. It is a complete illusion.

The press is free. You could start a competing newspaper, should you wish. Startup costs are low. The State isn't preventing it.

But as a fellow ex-journo, I'm sure you know that the market for a fair or conservative publication is poor.  City after city, the conservative papers die out while lib ones continue on, as conservatives don't read like libs do.

[Norm Lenhart]

The press is free. You could start a competing newspaper, should you wish. Startup costs are low. The State isn't preventing it.

But as a fellow ex-journo, I'm sure you know that the market for a fair or conservative publication is poor.  City after city, the conservative papers die out while lib ones continue on, as conservatives don't read like libs do.

Actually my experience was in watching them pushed out by some pretty nefarious means.

Startup costs on a newspaper are astronomical. Even if you have an outside source print your paper. And the more limited the run, the greater barrier there is. Plus, finding financing for a newspaper startup today when the market is in a steady decades long collapse is problematic at best.

Then you have the entire dynamic of distribution in an era where most places have exclusives to lock their competition out of everything from supermarkets to street corners. Simply being a paper does not mean the local govt has to give you  sidewalk for your dispenser.

It's nowhere near simple or inexpensive even BEFORE you get into unions shutting you out.

[alicewonders]

I was the president of a merchant's association for six years, and was interviewed many times by our local news stations and newspaper.  The first time that they asked me questions about how the mayor (who was a conservative Republican woman) was handling things in our area - I was absolutely shocked at how they edited my words to take them out of context so that it appeared I was criticizing the mayor - who I actually had a good relationship with.  I was mortified!  The next time I met with the mayor, I explained to her what they had done.  She laughed and told me not to worry a bit, that was what they ALWAYS did to her!

I wised up on subsequent interviews, and had to carefully parse my words so they couldn't be misreported again - even then, they misinformed by omission and any other way they could. 

So now, I have trouble believing anything the press says - because I KNOW that they lie.  From the local level all the way up.  I have said for years that the media is our greatest enemy.  They were basically state-run during the Obama years, and their bias has been blatant as far back as I can remember.  I remember my father yelling at Walter Cronkite on the television when I was a kid - he taught me how biased they were back then! 

Trump is not wanting to censor the news - he wants to make us all aware of how so many of them LIE to us - to make us view them with a jaundiced eye, as we should.  He is trying to force them to clean up their act, and I like that he is giving some smaller news outlets a chance to ask questions. 

How any conservative couldn't like that is beyond me.   

[geronl]

Politicians and government and Trump lie too.

I guess they're all fake.

[Norm Lenhart]

Politicians and government and Trump lie too.

I guess they're all fake.

Just noticed that, did'ja? ;)

If a reporter tells you water is wet, stick your head in the bucket to check as there will be a good chance scientists have invented dry water.

Same for a pol.

[corbe]

   Some NEW info here.


Mattis on rise in Trump administration

 By Rebecca Kheel and Katie Bo Williams - 02/19/17 10:30 AM EST 

Defense Secretary James Mattis’s influence in the Trump administration appears to be growing.

Mattis has seen a potential rival for Trump’s ear on national security fall to the side in Michael Flynn, the adviser asked to resign this week for misleading Vice President Pence and others about his conversations with Russia.

And while the national security advisor job sits empty, Mattis appears to be in a prime spot to assert his influence — something being recognized on Capitol Hill.

“Certainly right now, he’s the only one who has the credentials and who is in a strong position,” Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) said.

The Senate’s 98-1 vote to confirm Mattis gave the secretary clout and reflected the respect lawmakers in both parties have for the former military commander.
Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.), who has been critical of Trump, has praised Mattis.

Trump also respects his defense secretary, saying Mattis would “override” him on the issue of the use of torture.

Mattis allies have been placed in key positions of the administration.

The Pentagon chief’s preferred choice for Navy secretary, Philip Bilden, was nominated to the job over Trump’s initial choice.

Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly, a fellow general who also served under Mattis in Iraq, is another ally.

And while retired Vice Admiral Bob Harward turned down the job of replacing Flynn, the fact that he was asked speaks well of Mattis.

It appears Mattis is being given the latitude to express his views even if they contrast with Trump’s.

At a NATO meeting in Brussels on Thursday, Mattis doubled down on his comments about Russia’s meddling in elections — striking a different tone than the commander-in-chief.

“There's very little doubt that they have either interfered or they have attempted to interfere in a number of elections in the democracies,” Mattis said when asked about Russian interference in the U.S. election.

By contrast, Trump tweeted Thursday that “the Democrats had to come up with a story as to why they lost the election, and so badly (306), so they made up a story - RUSSIA. Fake news!”

With Harward turning down the job of national security advisor, those now in the running reportedly include retired Gens. Keith Kellogg, David Petraeus, Keith Alexander and James Jones.

One Republican shrugged aside questions about Mattis’s power being on the rise, saying he was influential from the minute Trump picked him.

“I think Mattis had a pretty strong influence anyway,” Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) said Thursday.

Democrats and some Republicans have long seen Mattis as a potential moderating influence in a Trump administration that includes Stephen Bannon, the White House strategist with a military background who was recently named as a principal of the National Security Council (NSC).

Mattis has reportedly clashed with Bannon over staffing choices in the Pentagon’s policy shop. And Bannon is thought to be the principal architect behind Trump’s controversial travel ban order — widely criticized even on the right over a chaotic and apparently poorly-planned roll-out — which Mattis reportedly did not see until just hours before Trump signed it.

Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-Texas), chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, argued that someone with military experience will understand the difference and give the Pentagon more latitude to carry out its mission.

“I don’t know about the influence, but I do get the sense that these folks who have served in the military understand a chain of command, and that’s a good thing,” Thornberry said.

“Any of them have got to be better than what we experienced where these NSC staffers were calling to airfields in Afghanistan asking about the fuel levels in the planes out there. It was completely out of control.”

Some Pentagon officials —including former Defense Secretary Robert Gates — under President Obama had complained of the “controlling nature” of the president’s national security team.

Thornberry was vocal during the Obama administration of what he and others say was “micromanaging” of the military by the NSC. To respond to that issue, last year’s defense policy bill included a provision requiring the NSC staff to slim down from 400 to 200.

“I think there has been enough bipartisan concern over the operations of the Obama administration NSC that we’re not going back to the bad,” he said. “And so regardless of the individuals who may be in place, people recognize that was way out of control.”

<..snip..>

http://thehill.com/policy/defense/320171-mattis-on-rise-in-trump-administration

[Weird Tolkienish Figure]

That's comforting, Corbe.

[Chosen Daughter]

I never thought I'd see disagreement on a conservative board on whether the mainstream media exerts an unfair and intolerable leftward influence on public opinion.

Am I morally obligated to defend the president every time somebody says something bad or controversial about him? I don't think so!

- Trump

And neither am I or anyone else in this free speech country.

[Weird Tolkienish Figure]

Am I morally obligated to defend the president every time somebody says something bad or controversial about him? I don't think so!

- Trump

And neither am I or anyone else in this free speech country.

 Nobody is arguing the media isn't biased.

[Norm Lenhart]

Am I morally obligated to defend the president every time somebody says something bad or controversial about him? I don't think so!

- Trump

And neither am I or anyone else in this free speech country.

The only obligation a conservative has is to the truth, whether Trump is speaking it or someone else is.

[skeeter]

Skeeter is a complete idiot and utter fool. Nobody is arguing the media isn't biased.

Coming from anyone who's intelligence & opinions I respected, I'd be offended.

But since its just you I'll wish you a nice Sunday evening.