Saturday, August 11, 2018

Last Call For (Red) Meat The Press, Con't

The print media finally unites against the fascism of Trump regime, but at this point when journalism is considered to be as disgusting a profession as possible by Americans, and a plurality of Republicans want Trump to have the power to eliminate news organizations that criticize him, does it even matter anymore?

"The dirty war on the free press must end."

That's the idea behind an unusual editorial-writing initiative that has enlisted scores of newspapers across America.

The Boston Globe has been contacting newspaper editorial boards and proposing a "coordinated response" to President Trump's escalating "enemy of the people" rhetoric.

"We propose to publish an editorial on August 16 on the dangers of the administration's assault on the press and ask others to commit to publishing their own editorials on the same date," The Globe said in its pitch to fellow papers.

The effort began just a few days ago.

As of Saturday, "we have more than 100 publications signed up, and I expect that number to grow in the coming days," Marjorie Pritchard, the Globe's deputy editorial page editor, told CNN.

The American Society of News Editors, the New England Newspaper and Press Association and other groups have helped her spread the word.

"The response has been overwhelming," Pritchard said. "We have some big newspapers, but the majority are from smaller markets, all enthusiastic about standing up to Trump's assault on journalism."

Instead of printing the exact same message, each publication will write its own editorial, Pritchard said.

That was a key part of her pitch: "The impact of Trump's assault on journalism looks different in Boise than it does in Boston," she wrote. "Our words will differ. But at least we can agree that such attacks are alarming."

Sadly, this is an idea that would have been a hundred times more effective on August 16, 2016, rather than August 16, 2018.  But Trump has everything he needs from the media now, and they will remain a convenient enemy for him to terrorize until they either submit to him, or go out of business.

What the news media needs to do is starve Trump of attention, to cut him off and stop covering him, then across the board, start supporting local Democrats.  They won't, and as long as they refuse to do so, Trump will continue to use them, more journalists will be hurt or possibly killed, and Trump will use them to serve his purposes.

America has a choice in November, but so do the media.

The Blue Wave Rises, Con't

This is where the party of Trump is in 2018: Republicans, scrambling to save indicted Rep. Chris Collins's seat in NY-27, are fighting to take his name off the ballot in order to construct a Rube Goldberg write-in machine to keep the seat in GOP hands.

Rep. Chris Collins (R-N.Y.), who was charged this week as part of an insider trading scheme, is suspending his re-election campaign and will attempt to remove his name from the ballot.

The third-term congressman announced the decision Saturday morning on Twitter, just days after he vowed to clear his name and remain on the ballot.

Collins is facing multiple counts of securities fraud, as well as charges of wire fraud and lying to investigators. His son and another associate were charged in the scheme as well.

Federal prosecutors allege Collins — who sits on the board of an Australian pharmaceutical company — shared non-public details about the failure of a multiple sclerosis drug in clinical trials. Using that information, Collins’ family members were able to sell off shares and avoid more than $760,000 in losses, prosecutors say.

Collins, the first member of congress to endorse President Donald Trump in 2016, pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Under New York law, Collins’ name can be supplanted on the ballot at this stage of the cycle only if he dies, moves out of state or is nominated for another office — like a local judgeship. According to Erie County GOP Chairman Nick Langworthy, the exact mechanisms are still being worked out, but he noted Collins owns houses in Florida and Washington, D.C.

“At this point, he has decided it’s a distraction focusing on his legal situation,” Langworthy said. "It was a distraction for us trying to retain the seat as conservative and Republican leadership. So, I think it was the best decision given the circumstances, and I wish him and his family the best.”

Republican leaders from each of the eight counties in the 27th District — which covers rural areas as well as suburbs of Buffalo and Rochester — will meet to select a replacement candidate, Langworthy said. There are more than 40,000 active Republicans than Democrats in the district, which went for Donald Trump by 24 points in 2016.

So we'll see if Republicans will vote for the party that's cheated Upstate New Yorkers out of everything over the last two years, or if sanity will prevail and Democrats will get their chance here.

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