Much whining over a little name calling and some bias shaming

After posting his Fake News Awards last week, President Trump is accelerating his war on the news media, the Blaska Policy Werkes has learned.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions is directing pre-dawn raids on news organizations the Trump Administration regards as partisan. Those include the New York Times, MSNBC, CNN, the Wisconsin State Journal, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, and Hoard’s Dairyman.

The Justice Department is said to have secured search warrants from sympathetic, over-worked, inattentive and/or lazy judges. “It’s completely legal,” according to former judge Andrew Napolitano, now an unbiased analyst at Fox News. “But then, so was slavery.”

In newsroom raids across the nation, speech police seized computers, flash drives, smart phones, and unwashed coffee cups as potential evidence of news media collusion with sympathetic Democratic office holders. The latter include the likes of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, House minority leader Nancy Pelosi, and Wisconsin Sen. Tammy Baldwin. All are seeking re-election this year.

“The reason you haven’t heard about these raids is that the victims of these pre-dawn raids are sworn to secrecy under penalty of law,” a confidential source not authorized to speak publicly, told us in a self-serving leak designed to influence future court decisions.

Wisconsin’s John Doe is precedent

The Trump administration leakers cited as precedent Wisconsin’s John Doe raids on Republican citizen-activists said to be “colluding” with Scott Walker and legislative Republicans facing recall elections in 2011-12.

In the latest free speech crackdown, the federal government theorizes that the news media entities, all corporations, are guilty of making unreported, in-kind corporate donations to candidates with whom they share common values. The illegal donations come in the form of favorable “puff pieces” about the candidates’ children, spouses, and nice teeth; hit pieces on their Republican opponents; endorsement editorials, etc. The favorable publicity rendered by this collusion is said to be tens of thousands of dollars in equivalent campaign ad purchases.

Also seized as evidence of the conspiracy is today’s (01-21-18) State Journal editorial praising two out-of-state senators for “stand[ing] tall defending a free press.” The in-kind donation from the State Journal lambasted the duly elected President and “wondered why more members of Congress — including Wisconsin’s delegation — don’t challenge the President more when he strays so far from basic American values, including respect for the First Amendment.”

That the State Journal maintained editorial silence on the John Doe speech raids against Republican activists, prosecutors allege, is further evidence of its collusion with the Democrat(ic) party, the teachers union, and the Mahlon Mitchell campaign to defeat Scott Walker. (See Judge Troupis excoriate GAB for ignoring the supreme court’s order.)

Although Trump has not arrested anyone nor has any news media outlet been shut down, targets of the investigation are “whining” (in the word used by a former State Journal columnist) that their First Amendment free speech rights are being intimidated. Ostensibly referring to Trump’s fake news awards, the Madison WI newspaper on Sunday accused Trump of “cop[ying] oppressive regimes around the globe to suppress dissent and jail journalists.”

Trashing Trump helps Democrats

The State Journal quoted Trump critic John McCain, a wealthy white man with a brain disease: “Journalists play a major role in the promotion and protection of democracy and our inalienable rights.” Except when the free speech rights of Republican activists are being alienated, apparently.

The corporation did not quote any Trump defenders in its unpaid political advertisement, even though there are some.

“Talk about arrogance!” a Trump apologist exclaimed. “Because they are ‘The Press’ (the apologist made air quotes with his fingers) they want special privileges they would deny to ordinary citizens. Like they’re unbiased, non-partisan referees of the political process. Rachel Madcow? John Nichols? Are you kidding?”

A Justice Department official, speaking on the condition his cover not be blown, pointed out that the State Journal is violating the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2010 decision in Citizens United:

There is no precedent supporting laws that attempt to distinguish between corporations which are deemed to be exempt as media corporations and those which are not. We have consistently rejected the proposition that the institutional press has any constitutional privilege beyond that of other speakers. 

The Trump storm trooper added, “The State Journal had nothing to say when speech police were tossing the homes of private citizens right under their nose. Now it’s whining because Donald Trump called them names.

“Priceless.”

Today’s Victim Whose Needs are Not Being Met

14) CENTRAL: Robbery-Armed – 1:34 a.m.  Officers were called to the area of E Washington and N Blount Street for an armed robbery.  A 24 year old WM was approached in the 100 block of N Blount Street by a male with a black handgun.  A second male then took his wallet.  The suspect with the gun was described as an AAM, mid 20’s, wearing a gray hoodie and blue jeans. The two suspects were last seen running north on Blount St toward Mifflin St.  Investigation continuing.