(5:40)

I was listening  Politics Girl (Leigh McGowan) on the Stephanie Miller Show the other day and she offered a thought that really struck me. Can’t remember just how she said it, but the essence was: 

‘media’s playing to get Trump elected or at least make it a close election is really playing with fire. If he becomes president, he said he will be a dictator and he will exact revenge on his enemies. The free press has been his enemy from day one. Dictatorships don’t need more than one press outlet.’

Like many, I guess I had made an assumption that all his sycophants in the press that for the last decade have painted the wannabe future dictator in the mold of Vladimir Putin or a Victor Orban would just be swept in to praise his glory we he demolishes our democracy. But maybe not. 

Trump will only need one or possibly two bullhorns. Anything more could be confusing and require some management effort that he has no desire to expend. Nope, better just to get rid of them. No sense taking a chance that some loose cannon might accidentally tell the truth and knock the propaganda wagon off its course.

That leads to many questions, such as, will the one or two “news” resources be a survivor from the current crop? Most people would probably assume that Fox and probably News Nation would take the mantle of administration outlet. My thought is that much like his social network, Trump would want to create his own outlet so he and his “trusted” allies can make their own rules.

The irony in such a scenario is that corporate media has done all they can to make Trump not only acceptable, but normalizing Trump’s insanity and pretending that the extreme right policies of Trump and his minions are American values. If they succeed in putting Trump back in the White House he will waste little time in exacting revenge and changing our democracy. One of the first victims will be the free press.

So selling out the country to put Trump back in charge may in the end lead to their demise. Funny how that works out. But you say, Trump has no power to stop the free press! No? Just this summer the SCOTUS said that essentially the president can do whatever he wants and it is legal. 

I have no idea what the mechanics of dismantling the press will look like but I think we have been given previews by Trump and his followers. Attacks on newsrooms and attacks on reporters to disrupt their news gathering abilities. Attacks on their websites, uplinks and downlinks and even the actual old style printing presses.

As physical attacks go on in a guerrilla like manner, the administration will issue executive orders expanding liability on stories concerning the administration. If Trump gets a MAGA congress, we could expect laws that will harm the press.

The press will probably rebel. This is where the administration will employ their “tie ‘em up in court” strategy that we have seen Trump use so successfully in his quest to stay out of jail. He and his followers have been preparing and practicing for their return. This can be used as a great strategy to harass the press and drain their money and other resources. So they bleed money while being constrained on what they can report. So no product to sell.

Think that can’t be done? Look what happened to abortion. A long slog that ended by eventually uses courts that have been turned into right wing echo chambers overturning decades of laws. 

And when the government in your name launches an attack on the press, remember that the Court has already ruled that what the president does as president is legal. And if you think “we can vote him and his party out of office” remember that ending elections was part of his plan. 

Does that scare you? Scares the hell out of me.

If you plan on voting for a MAGA for congress or even at the state level, that they will not go along with the Trump agenda? I have only seen two MAGA politicians with enough backbone to stand up to Trump so far and do the right thing. They were both dealt with. So expecting a Hinson, Miller-Meeks, Feenstra or Nunn to stand up to Trump is pretty wistful.

Certainly Joni Ernst and Chuck Grassley long ago sold their souls to Trump. So voting for a MAGA politician and hoping they do what is right for the country is a ship that sailed long ago. Loyalty to Trump is their new game in town.