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In Praise of Journalists


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Let's take a moment from our regular complaints about the press (that we all have) and give credit where credit is due.  Use this thread to highlight any members of the press who are doing the job America needs them to do.

 

 

 

First up, my new crush, Jonathon Lemire from the Associated Press.  In the midst of the debacle in Helsinki, Lemire stood face to face with Putin & his puppet and asked the questions that needed to be asked.

 

 

Quote

 

AP's Jon Lemire directly asked Trump whether he believes Putin over U.S. intelligence

 

President Trump was asked a very straightforward question about Russia's interference in the 2016 election. His response was essentially: "But what about Hillary's emails?"
 

Jonathan Lemire, an Associated Press reporter, reminded Trump at his joint press conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday that the entire U.S. intelligence community has concluded that Russia meddled in the election. Putin has repeatedly denied such actions.

 

"Who do you believe?" Lemire asked Trump. "Would you now, with the whole world watching, tell President Putin, would you denounce what happened in 2016, and would you warn him to never do it again?"

 

Trump immediately dodged, changing the topic without denouncing Russia or even acknowledging any misconduct. "You have groups that are wondering why the FBI never took the server," he said, referring to the Democratic National Committee's server that was hacked. "I've been wondering that, I've been asking that for months and months." Special Counsel Robert Mueller indicted 12 Russian agents in connection to the hacking last week.

 

Trump said that while U.S. officials have shown him that Russia interfered with election systems, Putin has said "it's not Russia" who meddled. "I will say this, I don't see any reason why it would be [Russia]," said Trump, continuing to emphasize the importance of the DNC servers. "What happened to Hillary Clinton's emails?" he said, calling it a "disgrace" that her emails went missing. He said Putin was "extremely strong and powerful in his denial today" — so apparently, that's that.

 

 

 

 

You know a question from a member of the press has hit home when this is the reaction from your team. In the future, this will be the caption dictionaries use under the word "downcast."

 

qcTnHcM.jpg

 

 

But wait - there's more!  Lemire didn't just ask Trump the question that needed to be asked, he asked another one, of Putin.


 

Quote

 

Journalist bravely confronts Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin

 

But Lemire didn’t stop there. The brave journalist then asked Mr Putin — who is known for silencing the media and suppressing free speech — if he had any compromising material on Donald Trump.

 

Mr Putin was not amused.

 

“It’s hard to imagine greater nonsense,” he scoffed. “Please get this rubbish out of your heads.”

 

But while neither president seemed to appreciate Lemire, commentators on social media erupted with praise and admiration for the reporter, calling him “incredibly brave”, a “hero” and “fearless”.

 

 

 

 

 

  • Plus1 2
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A general endorsement to:  Any one who doesn't buy the administration BS.

Michael Gerson - I'm a fan of his - speaking the truth from the conservative side.   He has some great quotes on

his tweeter feed regarding yesterday.

 

https://twitter.com/MJGerson?fl=4&cn=ZmxleGlibGVfcmVjc18y&refsrc=email

 

Michael Gerson Retweeted
 

Matt Hedstrom Retweeted Michael Gerson

Good article. Perhaps Russia has kompromat — likely financial. Perhaps Trump simply admires an authoritarian ruler dedicated to white “Christian” ethno-nationalism. As with all things Trump there are two core motivations: corruption and racism. Could be one, the other, or both.

Matt Hedstrom added,

Michael GersonVerified account @MJGerson
“If Mueller finds evidence of Trump’s complicity, obstruction or corruption, Republicans in Congress must support the removal of the president from office. If Republicans in Congress can’t make that simple pledge today, they must be removed from office.” https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/trump-replaces-national-pride-with-personal-vanity/2018/07/16/d8c8605e-8927-11e8-8aea-86e88ae760d8_story.html
 

Brian Clymer Retweeted Michael Gerson

This sums it up neatly.

Brian Clymer added,

Michael GersonVerified account @MJGerson
“And so our president, who shows how tough he is by abusing migrant children, was a cringing coward before a dictator. “ https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/trump-replaces-national-pride-with-personal-vanity/2018/07/16/d8c8605e-8927-11e8-8aea-86e88ae760d8_story.html 
 
 

“If Mueller finds evidence of Trump’s complicity, obstruction or corruption, Republicans in Congress must support the removal of the president from office. If Republicans in Congress can’t make that simple pledge today, they must be removed from office.”

 
 

"There is no rational explanation for Trump’s surrender to Russian designs... But we know that Russia is Trump’s Rosetta Stone — the key that will eventually explain the refusal of an American president to defend American interests."

 

Every once in a while, a major columnist offers fresh insight and real clarity despite a crush of other commentary. Today, that was @MJGerson:

 
 

Powerful stuff from ⁦@MJGerson⁩. “And so our president, who shows how tough he is by abusing migrant children, was a cringing coward before a dictator.”

 
 

A remarkable statement from Germany's foreign minister: "We can no longer completely rely on the White House"

 

“Ahead of the meeting, staffers provided Trump with some 100 pages of briefing materials aimed at laying out a tough posture toward Putin, but the president ignored most of it.”

 
 

Trump’s disavowal of our intelligence community was the single most destructive and disloyal act of a modern President. His wrecking ball tour of Europe the single most damaging to NATO and the West. Do we need any more evidence that he is unfit for office?

 

I recently asked two senior, retired U.S. intelligence officers who spent most of their careers focused on Russia how they would characterize the Putin-Trump relationship. Independently of each other, they both said, “Putin has something on Trump.” Me:

 
 

“Any diplomatic outcome — no matter how useless or harmful — is claimed by Trump as a victory. Any complications are pinned on the ‘stupidity’ of previous presidents. Trump’s negotiating style is a panting desire for the appearance of accomplishment

 

“One of the problems with narcissism as a foreign policy doctrine is that it hides national challenges from the president that are blindingly obvious to everyone else.”

 
 
 

“If the GOP proves unequal to this national security threat, it has ceased to be a responsible, governing party.”

 
 
 

“In the run-up to Helsinki, Trump actively advanced many important national objectives — of Russia.”

 

“One of the problems with narcissism as a foreign policy doctrine is that it hides national challenges from the president that are blindingly obvious to everyone else,” ⁦

  •  
 

Nice summation from @MJGerson in the @washingtonpost: Read the whole case, including the indictment, “If the GOP proves unequal to this national security threat, it has ceased to be a responsible, governing party” here @ https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/trump-replaces-national-pride-with-personal-vanity/2018/07/16/d8c8605e-8927-11e8-8aea-86e88ae760d8_story.html DiRKdQHUEAEsJ3E.jpg

0 replies 12 retweets 21 likes
 

Martin A. Kearney Retweeted Michael Gerson

The very definition of a bully and a coward. @MJGerson nailed it.

Martin A. Kearney added,

Michael GersonVerified account @MJGerson
“And so our president, who shows how tough he is by abusing migrant children, was a cringing coward before a dictator. “ https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/trump-replaces-national-pride-with-personal-vanity/2018/07/16/d8c8605e-8927-11e8-8aea-86e88ae760d8_story.html 
1 reply 13 retweets 42 likes
 

 

.@MJGerson is no wild-eyed liberal. That's why his new column on our President is so stinging.

 

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George Will, the conservative columnist, has been a Trump critic from the get go.  George will has some scathing remarks I've highlighted in bold below.  The original

article is in the Washington post which requires $$ to view.   George Will, also believes that the Russians have something over Trump - as also evidenced by his refusal

to make his tax returns public  - which probably shows that he isn't a successful business man and only looks that way due to Russian money.

 

 

http://thehill.com/policy/international/397596-george-will-calls-trump-sad-embarrassing-wreck-of-a-man

 

Quote

 

Conservative columnist George Will on Tuesday called President Trump a "sad, embarrassing wreck of a man" in criticizing his performance at this week's summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Will said Republicans should be embarrassed by Trump's remarks at the summit Helsinki, Finland, in which he attacked the special counsel investigation into Russia's interference in the presidential election, let various comments by Putin stand without question and cast doubt on the findings of U.S. intelligence agencies, seemingly putting equal weight on the word of the Russian leader.

 

 

Trump sought to walk back some of his remarks on Tuesday, saying he misspoke at the press conference.

"America’s child president had a play date with a KGB alumnus, who surely enjoyed providing day care," Will writes in a Washington Post column. "It was a useful, because illuminating, event: Now we shall see how many Republicans retain a capacity for embarrassment."

Will writes that Trump, "who bandies the phrase 'America First,'” put himself first and the U.S.'s interests last during his time spent with Putin. He then goes on to list some of the critical comments Trump received regarding his summit from Republican lawmakers, such as Sens. Lindsey Graham (S.C.) and John McCain (Ariz.). 

He also questions if people like Defense Secretary James Mattis, White House chief of staff John Kelly and Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats can continue to do their jobs for the president.

Will also questioned whether Russia has something on Trump to "keep him compliant." 

"Americans elected a president who — this is a safe surmise — knew that he had more to fear from making his tax returns public than from keeping them secret," Will writes. "The most innocent inference is that for decades he has depended on an American weakness, susceptibility to the tacky charisma of wealth, which would evaporate when his tax returns revealed that he has always lied about his wealth, too.

"A more ominous explanation might be that his redundantly demonstrated incompetence as a businessman tumbled him into unsavory financial dependencies on Russians. A still more sinister explanation might be that the Russians have something else, something worse, to keep him compliant."

Will has frequently criticized Trump and the Republican Party throughout Trump's presidency. In June, he called for voters to vote out the GOP in the upcoming midterm elections.

 

 

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