To Open The Sky
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Bull in the Oval Office
1/29/2017
The Oval Office is not a china shop. Nevertheless, it is incumbent on the occupant of that office — if the duties of that office are to be properly performed — to demonstrate an understanding of complex situations, a high degree of patience in sorting through conflicting information, and above all an unswerving acceptance of truth, however unpleasant.1
One of the things that characterized the presidential campaign of Donald Trump was its disregard for facts. Both he and his campaign staff routinely lied about verifiable facts — and faced no penalty. Now that he has taken the oath of office and is the forty-fifth president of the United States of America, Trump is following the same pattern. He claimed, for example, that the crowds at his inauguration were larger than those at President Obama's first inauguration.2 The actual numbers said the opposite.
Words
There's been some argumentation among the media over how to describe Trump's "accuracy-challenged" statements — which word or words to use. Many options are available, some tough, others mild. NPR has chosen to use "falsehood" or "untruth" because it holds itself unable to discern Trump's intent. The New York Times picked the more muscular "lie" — which I think is appropriate. Never, to my knowledge, has Trump willingly held back. Remember "Lyin' Ted" and "Crooked Hillary" from his campaign? Nor have many other GOP members refrained from bold accusations. And if the media are "mortal enemies" and "the opposition", as Gingrich and Bannon have respectively claimed, the media must be just as bold.
His press secretary Sean Spicer and his counselor Kellyanne Conway, strove to defend him. Conway argued absurdly on Meet the Press that Trump was using "alternative facts." Earlier, Spicer had held a "press conference" (he took no questions) at which he announced the crowds at his boss's inauguration larger that those for President Obama's. He gave numbers, and the numbers were easily found to be misleading.
True to form, Trump refuses to let the matter rest. His staff are backing him up, and so are some allies outside government, like Newt Gingrich. It amounts to a declaration of war on the media. Gingrich used that very phrase, and Steven Bannon, breaking a welcome silence, declared that the media "should just shut up."
But none of this is new. During his campaign, Trump was known for excluding reporters whose coverage he did not like. He once called a meeting with New York Times reporters and used it to berate them. But the Washington Post was probably his least favored newspaper.)
He also has a penchant for trumping up crises out of whole cloth. His inauguration speech was an example of this, with its dire descriptions of America as a land with "a depleted military," failing schools, poverty-stricken inner cities, rusted-out factories, and the "carnage" of rampant crime. These claims are exaggerations at best. More recently he has claimed that sanctuary cities are hotbeds of crime. In truth, immigrant populations are less prone to commit crimes than the average U.S. citizen — as much as four times less prone, according to some studies.
"The President is merely the most important among a large number of public servants. He should be supported or opposed exactly to the degree which is warranted by his good conduct or bad conduct, his efficiency or inefficiency in rendering loyal, able, and disinterested service to the Nation as a whole. Therefore it is absolutely necessary that there should be full liberty to tell the truth about his acts, and this means that it is exactly necessary to blame him when he does wrong as to praise him when he does right. Any other attitude in an American citizen is both base and servile. To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public. Nothing but the truth should be spoken about him or any one else. But it is even more important to tell the truth, pleasant or unpleasant, about him than about any one else."
– Theodore Roosevelt
Along with denial of truth goes denial of access. I've noted the removal of information on climate change from the White House Web site, as well as from State Department servers. A freeze on public announcements was placed on the EPA and the Department of Agriculture. Although it only lasted two days, it is a disturbing indication. A later dictum established a policy of requiring every scientific press release to be reviewed by a political staffer. Can you say "glasnost"? Trump apparently cannot.3
We've seen this sort of thing before, during the GW Bush administration. It's too soon to be sure, but Trump may well push the suppression even further. We must protest each and every distortion of reality they attempt to foist upon us, and demand the publication of whatever they try to withhold.
"No experiment can be more interesting than that we are now trying, and which we trust will end in establishing the fact, that man may be governed by reason and truth. Our first object should therefore be, to leave open to him all the avenues to truth. The most effectual hitherto found, is the freedom of the press. It is, therefore, the first shut up by those who fear the investigation of their actions."
– Thomas Jefferson
Sources:
- Fact check: President Trump's inaugural address (USA Today, 20 January 2017)
- President Trump's Inaugural Address, Annotated (NPR, 20 January 2017)
- Kellyanne Conway says Donald Trump's team has 'alternative facts.' Which pretty much says it all. (Aaron Blake, Washington Post, 22 January 2017)
- Americans — especially but not exclusively Trump voters — believe crazy, wrong things (Caroline Rampell, Washington Post, 28 December 2016)
- Kellyanne Conway on Spicer Press Conference: The Falsehoods Were "Alternative Facts" (The Day in Trump, 22 January 2017)
- Gingrich joins Trump's war on media 'mortal enemies' (Joe Davidson, columnist, Washington Post, 26 January 2017)
- Trump Strategist Stephen Bannon Says Media Should 'Keep Its Mouth Shut' (Michael N. Grynbaum, New York Times, 26 January 2017)
- Trump says sanctuary cities are hotbeds of crime. Data say the opposite. (Christopher Ingraham, Washington Post, 27 January 2017)
- Donald Trump revokes Washington Post press credentials (Tom Kludt & Brian Stelter, CNN Money, 14 June 2016)
It's evident that this is going to be the rule for as long as the Trump administration lasts. It's also evident that there will be plenty of pushback. Good.
Claptrap on the Campaign Trail
11/03/2024
As Trump tries for a comeback — to feed his ego, keep him out of prison, and enable him to exact retribution on his perceived enemies — Trump has become even less coherent and more prone to make absurd statements. Here are a few standouts:
- Wind turbine noise causes cancer and kills whales.
- Haitian immigrants are stealing and eating people's pets in Springfield, Ohio.
- January 6, 2021 was "a day of love and peace."
- America is the world's garbage bin.
- He is the father of IVF.
- He saved the ACA ("ObamaCare").
- In his next term he will be "the protector of women."
Going into much depth at this point would be a waste of time. I'll just provide this analysis by Peter Baker, co-author with Susan Glasser of The Divider: Trump in the White House, 2017-2021.
Source:
- Trump's Wild Claims, Conspiracies and Falsehoods Redefine Presidential Bounds (Peter Baker, New York Times, 3 November 2024)
