It’s clear that our president hates the First Amendment. He calls the press fake news and enemy of the people. Reporters have been arrested for covering protests; others have had their homes searched and their computers confiscated by the FBI.
The Pentagon has severely curtailed press access, limiting news about the Iran war and well-being of our service members. People lost their visas and their jobs for posting criticisms of Charlie Kirk after his death.
International students have been detained for speaking out in defense of Palestinians. And law firms and universities have been sanctioned and sued for challenging the administration’s party line.
It’s easy to miss the pattern, seeing these and the many other attacks on the First Amendment as one-off events. We reassure ourselves that the courts are ruling against some of the administration’s actions. We take heart in outstanding reporting from NPR, PBS and various tv, print and online news organizations.
But we shouldn’t delude ourselves. This is a focused campaign that’s occurring in plain sight. Just last week, reporters from three networks were banned from the White House for reporting news our president didn’t like.
How sadly ironic then that he brought the Chinese communist leader, tight controller of the press in his own country, to visit the National Archives to show off the US Constitution, Bill of Rights and Declaration of Independence.
I’m Deborah Booth and that’s my perspective.
