The Patriot Post® · When the Press and Prejudices Collide

Team Trump has taken a lot of heat for jumping at every opportunity to obliterate the mainstream media establishment. This weekend was no exception. Take, for example, Sunday’s Washington Post headline: “The traditional way of reporting on a president is dead. And Trump’s press secretary killed it.” The piece begins, “The presidency is not a reality show, but President Trump on his first full day in office made clear that he’s still obsessed with being what he once proudly called ‘a ratings machine.’” That much is true. And Press Secretary Sean Spicer’s Saturday cameo amounted to a less-than-stellar performance replete with meaningless faux statistics. But if so-called journalists are looking for someone to blame for the anti-media uprising, the recently departed administration provides some answers.

“[L]et’s be honest here,” says Taylor Millard. “Trump is only continuing a war set up by his predecessors in office, specifically Barack Obama.” As Millard goes on to explain, “Obama had his own war against the press, but it was something which didn’t always get a ton of attention. Kirsten Powers famously told Fox News it seemed like the only time people found out about the Administration was when something got leaked. … It’s possible no one really talked (or cared) about this war on the media during the Obama Administration because the media was mostly friendly towards the former president. But it’s also possible some journalists were also friendly because they didn’t want to lose sources, access, or become the next James Rosen (who was called a ‘co-conspirator’ by DOJ for doing his job).”

Then again, partisan hackery in the press is undeniable. Still defending its ridiculous release of a completely unvetted dossier on Donald Trump, BuzzFeed editor in chief Ben Smith insisted that sometimes, opposing Trump “means publishing unverified information.” He later asserted, “I’m proud we published the Trump-Russia dossier.”

Millions of Americans resent the media, and rightly so. But the Founders understood the media’s double-edged sword all too well. Fisher Ames said, “We are, heart and soul, friends to the freedom of the press. It is however, the prostituted companion of liberty, and somehow or other, we know not how, its efficient auxiliary.” Alexander Hamilton added, “It is the press which has corrupted our political morals — and it is to the press we must look for the means of our political regeneration.” That begins with recognizing John Adams’ infallible words: “Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclination, or the dictates of our passions, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.” And here’s a fact: The Leftmedia is the Democrats’ biggest super PAC, and Trump has promised to take it on — for good or ill.