Media needs to find balance in its coverage of Trump

Daily Gazette

Fairer coverage would go a long way to restoring credibility

. . . " Almost all conversations about roadblocks Trump faces or opposition to his initiatives centered on what was perceived as the media’s biased portrayal of him and his administration, rather than on anything the Democrats were doing.

"Republicans and conservatives have grumbled about unfair coverage from the “mainstream media” for decades.

"But the Trump era has brought us to a new plateau, one where the media has moved from adversarial to oppositional. Many observers, on both right and left, have come to see the media as the leader of the resistance.

If you care about journalism, it’s a disturbing trend. 

. . . "Perhaps it’s wishful thinking, but it seems to me the media’s anti-Trump fever has shown small signs of breaking lately.

"For example, CNN - the worst offender among the cable networks - this week “fact checked” claims by press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders about the president’s accomplishments so far, and, lo and behold, did not pronounce any of them a lie. It was astounding.

"But there are miles to go. Reversing the path they’re on would require a significant internal overhaul by the nation’s leading media organizations.

"Doing so could help them regain their lost credibility and restore the majority of Americans’ faith in them as unbiased arbiters of truth and evenhanded watchdogs of government. And, who knows, it might even make Schumer and Pelosi relevant again." . . .   All cartoons added by TD

thefederalistpapers.org

Dallas police were WARNED Lee Harvey Oswald would be murdered by a 'committee' - but still sent him to his death . . .

" . . . , infuriating FBI head J Edgar Hoover, newly released JFK documents reveal"

UK Daily Mail

1. Before Oswald was shot, a 'calm' voice told the FBI a 'committee' was to kill him
2. The FBI then demanded twice that Dallas PD protect Oswald, the memos say
3. But that didn't happen - to the annoyance of Hoover who said it was 'inexcusable'
4. Hoover's remarks were unsealed along with almost 3,000 other JFK documents
5. He also worried about conspiracy theories, and hoped to quell public distrust
6. The Soviet Union thought LBJ or the right wing had killed Kennedy
7. And the Cuban ambassador was gleeful at the president's slaying 

Hoover said the feds told Dallas PD twice to protect Oswald, but the man
 was still gunned down by small-time crook Jack Ruby (pictured); Hoover
said that was 'inexcusable'

"The murder of Lee Harvey Oswald could have been prevented after the FBI were warned of his impending death - but Dallas police failed to protect him, it has emerged.

"Nearly 3,000 documents related to JFK's shooting have been declassified by The White House, among them remarks made by then-FBI boss J Edgar Hoover the day Oswald died.

"According to Hoover, the FBI were contacted by a man who said a 'committee' was plotting to kill Oswald, who had been arrested for killing the president; the feds then told police in Dallas to protect the presidential assassin.

"Instead, Oswald was walked out in front of a crowd, cameras - and local nightclub owner Jack Ruby, who marched out and shot him dead." . . .

. . . "They certainly didn't believe that Oswald - a 'neurotic maniac who was disloyal to his own country and everything else' - was the killer, the notes claimed.

"'Our source further stated that Soviet officials were fearful that without leadership, some irresponsible general in the United States might launch a missile at the Soviet Union,' a note says.

"The documents also say that the Cuban ambassador to the US met the news of Kennedy's murder with a 'happy delight'. 

"It's not clear how Ruby might have got into the basement that Oswald was being transported through when he was shot." . . .

Mattis: threat of North Korea nuclear attack 'is accelerating'

The Guardian

In Seoul US defence secretary said Pyongyang engages in ‘outlaw’ behaviour and that the US will never accept a nuclear North Korea.

 James Mattis shakes hands with South Korean defense minister Song Young-moo

. . . "He added that regardless of what the North might try, it is overmatched by the firepower and cohesiveness of the decades-old US-South Korean alliance.

“ 'North Korea has accelerated the threat that it poses to its neighbors and the world through its illegal and unnecessary missile and nuclear weapons programs,” he said, adding that US-South Korean military and diplomatic collaboration thus has taken on “a new urgency.”

“ 'I cannot imagine a condition under which the United States would accept North Korea as a nuclear power,” he said

"As he emphasized throughout his weeklong Asia trip, which included stops in Thailand and the Philippines, Mattis said diplomacy remains the preferred way to deal with the North.

“ 'With that said,” he added, “make no mistake – any attack on the United States or our allies will be defeated, and any use of nuclear weapons by the North will be met with a massive military response that is effective and overwhelming.”

"Mattis’s comments in Seoul did not go beyond his recent statements of concern about North Korea, although he appeared to inject a stronger note about the urgency of resolving the crisis." . . .

Pictured: General Mattis's statement to the First Marine Division just before the invasion of Iraq and the overthrow of Saddaam Hussein.

On the Democrat funding of the "Trump Dossier"

It has now been revealed that the DNC paid Steele for his efforts.  TheWashington Post reported that, “After the election, the FBI agreed to pay Steele to continue gathering intelligence about Trump and Russia.”  It is only a matter of time before all the details of the “dossier” affair are revealed to the public.

All from the fertile minds of Democrat thinkers, some of whose colleagues are pictured in this post.TD

The Russian collusion narrative is falling apart. There will be many embarrassed politicians in the near future  "Well, it seems that things are falling apart, the center is not holding.  There are those on the left who will not abandon the “dossier” fiasco.  As late as Oct. 7, 2017 the Guardian described it as “one of the most explosive documents in modern political history.”  This “dossier” was an obvious fraud and no one in the intelligence community believed otherwise.  People who claimed it might possibly have value were deceiving the public. They did this because it was the only thing they had to justify an investigation of the Donald Trump campaign.  According to the Wall Street Journal, the dossier “became a factor in Obama administration decisions to launch an FBI counterintelligence investigation of the Trump campaign.”

"This batch of memos had circulated through the media and intel community for months when BuzzFeed published the full document in January 2017.  As long as it was not public, it could be vaguely referred to in order to support the charge that Trump was owned by the Russians.  Once it was published, it became obvious that it was a fraud.  This is revealed on the first page.  No experienced intelligence officer would classify a Sensitive Source as Confidential.  If he did he would be looking for a new job or possibly be behind bars.   

"The other implausible claim in the document concerns the “golden shower” allegations. " . . .

Investigate This, part 3 . . . "Yet John Podesta, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, and campaign general counsel Marc Elias have all denied knowledge, either now or in the past. Whole lotta lyin’ goin’ on. As for Hillary herself, well, “she may or may not have been aware.” . . .
. . . "Why was the “dossier” ultimately so important for the anti-Trump conspiracy (if you think of a better way of putting it, let me know)? The reason, I think, is that the use of standard political smears against Trump had proven ineffective. Therefore it became necessary to take it all a step further and to attempt to make some superficially credible allegations of action against the national interest (again, the vague allegations of Mafia ties had fallen flat)." .  .  .  Part 2

Pro-Rubio Washington Free Beacon admits hiring Fusion GPS to dig up dirt on Trump  "The conservative publication Washington Free Beacon admits that it hired Fusion GPS to do opposition research on Donald Trump during the GOP primaries. The relationship between WFB and Fusion began in October 15, 2015 and ended in March 2016 when Trump was assured of the GOP nomination." . . .

Shame on the Washington Free Beacon

Donald Trump vindicated  . . . "I won't hold out hope that Hillary, or any of these other cast of characters will be that "someone", but given the new revelations about the sham that is the Russia Investigation, I would hope that our Congressional representatives will get behind the President and have the wherewithal to do the things that they campaigned to do. The President has been fighting these lies on his own. Man up, put. . . your petty squabbling aside, and get down to the people's business."

What was McCain's role in spreading this rumor? . . . "We know McCain is engaging in scorched earth warfare against Trump already." . . .

Kimberley Strassel: The Fusion GPS bombshells have just begun to drop  . . . "The Fusion GPS saga isn’t over. The Clinton-DNC funding is but a first glimpse into the shady election doings concealed within that oppo-research firm’s walls. We now know where Fusion got some of its cash, but the next question is how the firm used it. With whom did it work beyond former British spy Christopher Steele ? Whom did it pay? Who else was paying it?" . . .

Be Mad About Team Clinton’s Dossier Lies and Team Trump’s Meeting Lies

. . . "Or, in other words: Each group is having the exact opposite reaction to the dossier news as it did to the news that some members of Team Trump met with Russians who claimed to have opposition research on Hillary, despite their previous claims to the contrary. When the latter story broke in July, liberal pundits gave it wall-to-wall coverage, saying that seeking opposition research from a foreign adversary is never okay, that the changing narratives indicated something sinister, and that Donald Trump himself must have been involved." . . .

The Russia Dossier Story: A Perfect Storm of Clinton Deception, Media Irresponsibility, and Democratic Moral Blindness  . . . "It would be easy, at this point, to start to wander down the rabbit hole, to wonder how much of the so-called “Russia controversy” is based on the Clinton campaign’s opposition research, but let’s not speculate. The truth will emerge. Instead, let’s do something else: Let’s consider how the Russian-dossier story has thus far represented a perfect storm of classic Clintonism, media irresponsibility, and Democratic moral blindness." . . .

"Hillary Clinton‘s campaign allegedly supplied funds for the discredited Trump dossier and just

 like everything else she touches, it has blown up in her face."   Cartoon by A.F. Branco.

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"Mom Lost Son in Afghanistan 8 Years Ago…But Just Got Letter From Melania"

"Following comments made by Trump on Monday claiming that former President Barack Obama didn’t call all of the families of fallen American heroes, Stephenson said she never received a phone call from the Obamas when her son died."

Western Journalism  "In the midst of the media uproar over an as-of-yet-unproven claim that President Donald Trump made a disrespectful statement to the widow of a recently killed U.S. serviceman, the mother of a deceased soldier has shared a letter she received from first lady Melania Trump years after her son was killed in action.

"In 2009, Jill Stephenson found out that her son Benjamin Kopp, an U.S. Army Ranger, had been shot in the leg.

"Stephenson initially believed that her son was going to lose the leg while still making a recovery.

"Kopp was admitted to Walter Reed Medical Center, but died eight days later from his injuries.

“I wish to offer my heartfelt gratitude for the sacrifices you have made and the high price you and your family have paid to help ensure our freedom,” wrote Trump." . . .

“As a mother, you bear the burden of war in a very personal way,” the letter read.
“I want to take a moment, on Gold Star Mother’s and Family’s Day, to honor you and your son, Corporal Benjamin Kopp, who laid down his life to protect us, our country, and all we hold dear,” Trump said.
“His sacrifice will never be forgotten,” she added. “I hold you close to my heart and keep you in my prayers.”

"Stephenson’s comments and the letter from Melania Trump indicate that Donald Trump wasn’t entirely incorrect in his statement that his predecessors didn’t call or write to all of the families of fallen American soldiers."