Freedom of The Press?                                #324

By Hank Silverberg 

It was bound to happen. Donald Trump has kicked the Associated Press out of the White House press room and attacked both CNN and reporter Kaitlan Collins repeatedly because he does not like their coverage of his administration. The AP will also not be allowed to travel with the White House press pool on Air Force One. 

With Collins, he has attacked her numerous times  simply because she asks tough questions he does not want to answer, and because he does not like CNN. But with the Associated Press, America's premier wire service, the cause was trivial and the impact substantial. The wire service decided to keep the Gulf of Mexico name on what Trump now calls the "Gulf of America."  

Trump has changed the name on all official documents, but the Gulf of Mexico, an international body of water, has had its name since the early Spanish explorers came to the new world in the 16th Century, long before the United States existed.  

The Associated Press, which has been around since 1846 has always been non-partisan and objective. It is used as a source of news by the overwhelming majority of news organizations in  the United States. 

This move, combined with the administration's decision to kick CNN, The Washington Post, The Hill, NBC News and National Public Radio out of their workspace at the Pentagon and give it to the right-wing conservative and bias outlets OAN and Brietbart Radio among others, will mean there will be much less objective and accurate news coming out of two key venues in Washington--the White House and the Pentagon.   

Trump and Elon Musk have touted free speech on X and elsewhere, but without a free press that amounts to nothing. The First Amendment protects free speech, but it also protects the free press. It can not be denied if our country, as we know it, is to survive.   

History proves one of the first things authoritarian regimes do to control the message is destroying a free press. 

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/white-house-bars-associated-press-oval-office-air-force-one/

https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/07/media/pentagon-press-rotation-defense-department/index.html

News You May Have Missed! 

Local school districts across the country are the latest target for the Trump administration's effort to erase DEI from the pages of history.

The U.S. Department of Education, while it still exists, has sent a notice to all 50 states telling them they have 14 days to remove all DEI programming from ALL public schools or lose federal funding.

Ironically, the letter came from the Department of Education Office of Civil Rights on Valentine's Day.   

Here is part of the letter:

"Educational institutions have toxically indoctrinated students with the false premise that the United States is built upon "systemic and structural racism" and advanced discriminatory polices and practices. Proponents of these discriminatory practices have attempted to further justify them--particularly during the last four years--under the banner of "diversity, equity and inclusion ("DEI") smuggling racial stereotypes and explicit race-consciousness into every training programing and discipline."

 It goes on to claim such practices are illegal. 

The amount of federal money local school districts get is based on enrollment and other factors, like the poverty level in a particular community. 

More than $857.2 billion was spent on public schools in the United States in 2024. The federal government provided about 13.6% of the funding for K-12 schools across the country, or about $2,648 per pupil.   

Losing that money would be a big hit for all local school districts unless states make up the difference.  

Unions Under Fire

Labor unions are now the latest target of conservative Republicans. Utah has joined two other states passing legislation that would bar collective bargaining rights for teachers, police officers, firefighters and other public employees. It could be a big blow to the country's long established labor movement. Collective bargaining in the private sector is protected by federal law, but the rules for public employees are different in each state. 

Without labor unions to protect them, it will be easier for state and local governments to fire public workers, and they could lose their union sponsored health insurance, though the bill provides a state sponsored alternative for public employees. 

North Carolina and South Carolina have similar laws.  

Dumhttps://utahnewsdispatch.com/2025/02/14/despite-pleas-for-veto-utah-gov-cox-signs-bill-banning-public-unions-from-collective-bargaining/best Quote of the Week!

This week's dumb quote comes from Vice President JD Vance as he addressed the Munich Security Conference in Europe. He launched a sharp attack on European democracies, claiming the greatest threat facing the continent is not Russia or China:

“The threat that I worry the most about vis-à-vis Europe is not Russia. It’s not China, it’s not any other external actor. And what I worry about is the threat from within...”  

He told the European leaders that "mass migration" and the loss of "fundamental values" were their biggest threat. He pretty much ignored the war in Ukraine as well, even though he did meet with President Zelinski.   

How was it received? The European Union's Foreign Policy Chief Kaja Kallas said it seem Vance was trying to "pick a fight" with all of Europe, the home of some of the United States' closest allies. 

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4g9nmeyzkjo

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