Trump's war on press freedom as it consolidates media control of news broadcasting and Stars and Stripes

Two very disturbing stories today from the Trump administration that contain threats to freedom of the press:. One, the FCC chair threatens to yank broadcast licenses from outlets that do not report favorably about Trump on Iran, and the other is from the Pentagon, which is cracking down on the independent military publication, Stars and Stripes, by denying reporters' access because it is "too woke".  Both of these are attempts by a wannabe dictatorship to control minds and the information the public can access to formulate their own opinions.  It is another sign of a dictatorship consolidating power by mind and information control. 

 Imagine if all the news the public gets is the spin that only reports favorable news to the regime. That is precisely how dictators in our modern era seize and stay in control. The prime example is Viktor Orbán of Hungary, who slowly suppressed the press and put control of the media in the hands of cronies, through denial of licensing and with buyouts.  Imagine if every news outlet sounded like FOX.  The administration is well on its way toward that goal, with its control over CBS News and now a buyout that will destroy CNN's independence.  The intent of the Trump regime is to defang CNN as the secretary of "war" just said: Pentagon chief says he's eager for Trump ally to buy CNN as he blasts war coverage | Reuters

FCC chair threatens to revoke broadcasters' licenses amid Trump comments on Iran coverage

Pentagon tightens controls over Stars and Stripes after calling it “woke” : NPR

The politics behind the $8B Paramount-Skydance merger | PBS News

Controversial '60 Minutes' segment on Trump immigration policy leaks online | PBS News

MUFTIC FORUM BLOG: Iran: Hegseth's holy war?

 

Fact based information no longer is reliable as Trump ascends to his throne

A businessman who is multilingual and often travels the world made a passing comment to me recently. It shook me up a bit.  Watching both FOX and Russian state television, he was struck by how much their productions sound and look alike. The tone is so similar.  Both put forth supportive news and comments slanted to please their leaders and spread the leader's talking points, and avoid challenging accusations and questions.  I also recognize that other cable channels, like MSNBC, are often critical of the Trump administration, but at least they are careful to identify sources of facts, provide historical context, and tackle issues and raise questions that others do not.  We all need to verify what we trust, but how? Being a skeptic helps.

 I have been in politics and been a first-hand witness to how dictators work who come from a different ideology than mine, but the techniques of control of thought of those they govern both employ suppression of any opposition thoughts and support of the message the dear leaders want you to hear. In short, I try to take all with a large dose of salt and ask myself, "Is that so?" and try to test them against other media outlets, foreign and domestic. While I have a point of view, I am a confessed skeptic. Others need to be the same.

 How can you do that, and what are other sources when government data, once supplied by green eyeshade non-partisan number crunchers, that have been politicized and under the control of Donald Trump? How do you do it when Trump has threatened to take revenge on any reporting media outlets and data-gathering analysts who have dared to contradict his views?  It takes effort and time that few have, so it becomes, "well, it sounds ok to me, and it supports my side of the political divide". It is trust without verification.. It is why it is so easy for a wannabe dictator to manipulate thoughts, minds, and hearts, and it happens before you ever realize it. We are approaching the end of a free speech/ freedom of the press country when it comes to media, data, and sources. The Trump regime is responsible for that sad accomplishment.

 What can be done about that? The first step is to recognize it.   The next is to tap your own skeptical self. The third step is to find other sources that do not have a self-interest in the issue's outcome,  or are in a position that cannot be pressured by the powers that be.  The fourth is to defend the First Amendment and freedom of the press to the hilt, so that you have access to various views and evidence, and those alternative sources are not suppressed by an oppressive dictator or, if you will, a king. 

Update: 11/1/2025: The data and fact issue is complicated also in the short term by the shutdown. US government shutdown plunges the country into a statistical blackout

____________________________________________________________

Here is how I try to do it: You will see on this blog at least the print source link that influenced me the most, but it may not list all of the sources I looked at before I posted that blog. I am also constantly editing and revising past blogs as new information surfaces. Often, those updates are posted separately on Facebook, too.  

I am particularly wary of the governmental source of data and facts, knowing that Trump fired data agency leaders, for example, the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, who reported data that contradicted Trump's words. Some data, such as climate-related data, is no longer reported at all. I still give high credibility points to the Congressional Budget Office since it does have bipartisan participation in a closely divided legislative branch. even though the majority is subservient to the White House's wishes. Legislators on both sides of the aisle still have to rely on the same source, at least, and they should have the skills and knowledge more than a layperson to know BS when they see it.. I understand that networks now fear they will lose licenses if they become too critical of the dear leader, or that universities are afraid of loss of federal contracts, if they report research, provide classes that promote certain views, or allow diverse opinions that contradict the regime's official line. Think tanks are helpful, just so I know where they are coming from. The Pentagon press room and White House access are screened, and the impolite are barred. It is particularly frightening as active military are being deployed into major US cities, an aircraft carrier is on the way to the Caribbean for what looks like a war on Venezuela we are initiating,  and a paramilitary force is being trained and equipped by ICE for unpopular mass deportations with accountability to anyone except DHS..

Furthermore....

Where and what are the sources I use to verify? I no longer accept any information without question and try to verify the best I can. Being an opinion writer and having a point of view I feel compelled to express,  I am usually reacting to public stories. Occasionally, I  do some actual first-source reporting, but mostly it is reacting. My antenna is up. My gut is: trust no one but verify. Then I can shape an opinion piece, which these blog postings are, and I have a degree of confidence that I did not miss something. and at least drew from a variety of sources and can anticipate rebuttals. Believe me, that exercise has indeed also caused me to alter my initial suppositions.  Among those sources, since they are not yet jammed or forbidden, are foreign press with seasoned US-based reporters like Reuters, The Guardian, and The Independent.  They tend to be at least another view, a different opinion to consider, and reporting stories not in the US press. A news service like Reuters is often just plain factual.  More and more dissident academics have fled to Toronto, and I take them seriously. AI is an increasing source I use, but mostly it also provides a referral to another source, since they also footnote and link to where they got their information. The trick with AI is being able to ask the right question to get a pertinent response, whether it justifies your supposition and premise or not. I also am using YouTube more frequently to quote comments from the horse's mouth, which are not whitewashed or distorted.

Trump, the spin dictator

 Trump says negative press coverage of his administration is "really illegal"

Surprised that Trump is closing down the ability of the opposition to communicate to you? You shouldn't be. For a wannabe strongman to achieve and maintain power, control of the media is critical. Trump is using whatever power he thinks he has, constitutional or not, to do just that with lawsuits and threats of delicensing and demands that those who get under his skin the most get fired. Maybe when these abuses of power reach "his" Supreme Court, even they will say no, but in the meantime, he is satisfying his unbridled lust for more power and wealth right out in the open.

Back in February, I included this in a post:

"Modern-day dictators have gained the power they seek because they have used modern technology to spin and mind-control their way to their position. They spin the news to engineer their support. "The central goal remains the same: to monopolize political power. But today’s strongmen realize that in current conditions, violence is not always necessary or even helpful. Instead of terrorizing citizens, a skillful ruler can control them by reshaping their beliefs about the world. He can fool people into compliance and even enthusiastic approval. In place of harsh repression, the new dictators manipulate information. Like spin doctors in a democracy, they spin the news to support. They are spin dictators." How Do Dictatorships Survive in 21st Century? | Andrew Carnegie Fellows | Carnegie Corporation of New York

.MUFTIC FORUM BLOG: The only whistleblowers left is the free press...guard it well updated

CPAC Conference in Hungary Views Viktor Orban’s Nationalism as A Model to Follow | ADL

Are we already living with fascism? Updated through 3/31/2025

 I received inquiries from European friends asking me what was going on in the America they once knew? Many of my friends and relatives live in countries in the Ukraine neighborhood. The fall of Ukraine to Russia or a giveaway by Trump is of serious concern and causes fear for their own futures.  One inquirer asked about the rule of law. Does America still have it?. I replied with blog links on those issues as of today, but I had another thought. I am beginning to feel like we are becoming a fascist country, and we are already experiencing some of it. Here is why. 

I have recently noted a greater sensitivity to what I am posting on the internet, fear that somehow jobs will be affected if commenters are seen as too lib or as contradicting Trump or could be accused of dis-agreeing.  That kind of fear was more like what I experienced in dictatorships.  In short, fear is causing a lot of self-editing to make sure what I write is mine or at least comes from some publicly published source that has credibility.  Some have even changed their Facebook names because they fear facing repercussions, which is scary to have to feel that way.  This already is no longer a free country. It is feeling like we are already in a country run by dictator who uses fear, threats, and revenge to control what people used to freely express. I will not be cowed or bowed, but I will be more careful to make sure I do not quote those who do not want to be quoted or who are living in that fear so long as I have access to a public platform.  

Dissent with Trump is not tolerated and is punished using the tools of law enforcement prosecution or being primaried.  Press and media daring to report facts and news contradicting Trump get denied access to the Oval Office or Airforce One.. Members of the Trump administration openly say that if the courts rule against them, they can ignore the orders with which they disagree. Or even Trump himself: No laws are broken if he saves the country. No wonder he can say it and get away with breaking criminal laws because the Supreme Court gave him immunity. Now, he thinks it applies to anything he does. The rule of law means the rule of Trump, or so it appears to him. 3/5/25: The Supreme Court, on a 5/4 vote, showed a "stunning" attempt to uphold the rule of law. In one of the first test cases to reach it, it ruled against the Trump administration on the issue of stopping USAID.  Next, will the Trump administration obey the ruling? Is this the new pattern, or was it a one-off?   https://mufticforumblog.blogspot.com/2025/03/whats-big-deal-about-rule-of-law.html

Even immigrants have some Constitutional rights. The Trump regime is making a mockery of the rights to free speech and due process, and going into court to argue against that.  In the meantime, visa and green card holders are being snatched off the streets without a hearing and presentation of facts and evidence to justify that they were breaking any laws or were a member of a terrorist organization. Welcome to fascism:  https://john-w-whitehead.medium.com/making-our-rights-disappear-the-authoritarian-war-on-due-process-cf0f45f9e0c6   

  Using a bogus claim, the US is at war with Venezuela in order to justify taking such deportation and prison in El Savado in the cover of night of the accused without due process is one issue. Another is snatching a grad student off the street because she wrote an article in a school newspaper in support of Hamas.  Was there any evidence they also had terrorist ties or committed crimes? We will never know if they are snatched and shipped or imprisoned without a hearing before a judge, which is the process to which they were entitled, called due process.

3/28.2025 Judge rules against the Trump regime using the excuse of a war to cover the lack of due process extended to alleged Venezuelan gang members. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-judge-extends-block-trump-use-wartime-law-deportations-2025-03-28/

Update 3/29/2025 Disney and ABC hit with FCC investigation over DEI policies | CNN Business     FCC chair opens investigation into PBS, NPR sponsorship practices

Donald Trump calls for MSNBC hosts to be fired after 'disgraceful' comments - Irish Star

Update 3/21/2025: Some hope, though. Trump has been on a crusade to "delicense" media he does not like, particularly MSNBC and CNN. He should be informed that cable networks are not licensed.However, attacking others like NPR and broadcasting networks should be expected. The new head of the FCC that does licenses was one of the writers of Project 2025 and that proposed a frightening course. Trump's FCC pick, Brendan Carr, wrote Project 2025's chapter on the agency. Here's what he wants. - CBS News  The media has been called the 4th estate because its power and control of media is part and parcel as one of the first steps a wannabe dictator uses to seize control of the other three "estates," the executive, legislative, and judicial branches. Trump has whipped the legislative branch majority into submission, and he is trying to cow the judges by threatening "impeachment". That one is simply a bark with no bite since two-thirds of the Senate to convict an impeachment is such a supermajority that it is a non-starter. 

The Trump regime appears laying the groundwork to challenge the judiciary branch's ability to rule against Trump's interests and actions as the chief of the executive branch in the Venezuelan gang import case and he may find a hostile Supreme Court greeting him as Chief Justice Roberts was quick to respond on the threats of impeachment of the judge. He gave a strong rebuke immediately after Trump went on a rant. https://mufticforumblog.blogspot.com/2025/03/whats-big-deal-about-rule-of-law.html

 https://www.imdb.com/news/ni64407784/  

 Supreme Court rejects Trump’s request to keep billions in foreign aid frozen |

 CNN Politics  MUFTIC FORUM BLOG: What those who support the rule of law should fear the most updated

https://mufticforumblog.blogspot.com/2025/03/whats-big-deal-about-rule-of-law.html

Political control of his base is already complete. Those of his party in Congress get threatened and fear for their political lives if they raise an objection to Trump's policies. Trump's oligarchs will provide unlimited campaign funds against any dissenters. This past week, we saw that in full array as former hawks against Russia fell into line on Ukraine, contradicting years of past public statements. Now, social media provides the approved word of the day or the rationale for whatever policies Trump supports. Not one GOP voice in Congress  (may be one exception) now objects to Trump dumping Western alliances, voting with Russia in the UN,  and, as the Kremlin acknowledged, Trump is now aligned with Russia.  In his state-of-state address on 3/4/25, the GOP members applauded and rose as a body at his every pronouncement.  

 Mind control is halfway there as favorable polls of Trump only deviate a little from November 2024.  What is different from the fascist rulers and dictators of the past is how the message gets delivered. Once in communist or fascist countries, it was blaring slogans from loudspeakers, banners, and total control over TV and radio. Western press was not allowed. These days thought control is even more effective.  Algorithms ensure the faithful get the message, not just on TV but on all the newfangled outlets and social media, and other thoughts are steered away or not reported.  The voice of Trump is right there in their smartphones 24/7, and the chances of hearing what the "other side" is thinking are either rare or dismissed as political propaganda. MUFTIC FORUM BLOG: How stupid does Trump think Americans are?

 Born in 1938, I have seen much, including the fall of fascism and the Iron Curtain consolidating power, as a student in Berlin in 1958 as Kruschev threatened to close off Berlin, and another airlift was a possibility. I met my forever husband-to-be in Berlin in 1957-58s, a fellow student planning to become a refugee from a communist country. From him, I learned what it was like for ordinary people to live in a dictatorship. We were later able to make nearly annual trips to visit the family as that country liberalized. Still, even then, I had close-up and personal observations of how dictators operate, gain, and maintain their power.  I knew what it was like firsthand.

 Communist dictators and fascists have much in common, though their messages and ideology are different. The ones I witnessed used the same techniques, blaring loudspeakers and banners everywhere, and no free press was allowed. To succeed and survive, regardless if you had a bone to pick, you had to keep your mouth shut and keep your head down low. Someone was always listening and reporting on you. Dissent was not only not allowed, dissenters would be punished. Rule of law was not what was on paper or their "constitution" but how it was practiced, and the interpretation had to comply with the dear leader's or party functionaries' words du jour.  

Does any of this sound like what you are witnessing develop or where we are heading in our own country in 2025? It does to me. I am feeling deja vu all over again.

The only whistleblowers left is the free press...guard it well updated

Update: 3/2/2025 One of the real challenges in writing on my blog is finding the facts or at least finding someone to report them regardless of whether they fit or contradict the Trump regime line. I was often using  Reuters and AP, and both were denied access to the pressers in the epic blowup between Trump, Zelensky, and Vance in the Oval Office. Yes, at least this explosive conversation was available on U Tube soon after and I posted it on Facebook for everyone to see and judge for themselves. The blog always contains the source sites of what I write, and I try to avoid those with paywalls or known biases. Both are challenges and hard to avoid..

 Truth and facts can hurt either side, but wannabe dictators only want you to see and hear their alternative facts. That is my personal experience with dictators, first hand, Communist ones in East Germany and Tito in Yugoslavia. It is not only the content of their stories but also the stories they report. Without a free press, voters will not even know that they have been hurt by whom, much less be able to mount a resistance. One job of a free press is to expose such lies or twisted data. The Trump regime provides an abundant opportunity. Former Trump White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham ‘knows he can basically say anything, and his base will believe.’ That is what it is like to live in a dictatorship. https://thehill.com/.../4394676-grisham-trump-knows-he.../.

THEHILL.COM

Grisham: Trump ‘knows he can basically say anything and his base will believe’

Update: 2/27/2025 The Associated Press has been barred from White House pressers; CBS was forced to settle a lawsuit over an interview with Kamala Harris; the owner of the Washington Post, billionaire Jeff Bezos, has taken over the Washington Post editorial page and will permit no dissent.  Update 2/28/2025, AP, Reuters, kicked out of presser that was a drama of Trump and Vance acting badly in front of the whole world.

Update: 4/8/2025  https://www.cbsnews.com/news/white-house-associated-press-dispute-gulf-of-america/    Court orders AP access restored.

 The free press is the last line of defense of democracy threatened by a president who now boasts he is a king. The free press is key to America becoming aware of the danger and the fallout that will also harm the very lives of American citizens.  Without a free press, voters will not even know that they have been hurt by whom, much less be able to mount a resistance.   Trump thinks he can lie, and he can get away with it because his loyal followers will believe any thing he says.   Grisham: Trump ‘knows he can basically say anything and his base will believe’   That is what it is like to live in a dictatorahip.  

: "Modern-day dictators have gained the power they seek because they have used modern technology to spin and mind-control their way to their position. .They spin the news to engineer their support" "The central goal remains the same: to monopolize political power. But today’s strongmen realize that in current conditions, violence is not always necessary or even helpful. Instead of terrorizing citizens, a skillful ruler can control them by reshaping their beliefs about the world. He can fool people into compliance and even enthusiastic approval. In place of harsh repression, the new dictators manipulate information. Like spin doctors in a democracy, they spin the news to  support. They are spin dictators." How Do Dictatorships Survive in the 21st Century? | Andrew Carnegie Fellows | Carnegie Corporation of New York   

. 

 https://www.cbsnews.com/news/white-house-bars-associated-press-oval-office-air-force-one/

https://mufticforumblog.blogspot.com/2025/02/when-it-comes-to-corruption-trump-is.html

https://newrepublic.com/post/192012/jeff-bezos-change-washington-post-opinion  Bezos takes over editorial page of the Washington Post and will not allow dissent. https://newrepublic.com/post/192012/jeff-bezos-change-washington-post-opinionhttps://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cd650zdwe8do The Associated Press is denied access to White House pressers because it dared argue with Trump over the renaming of the Gulf of Mexico.   0352075501b779b8b187667f3427e0e8 

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/white-house-bars-associated-press-oval-office-air-force-one/

https://mufticforumblog.blogspot.com/2025/02/when-it-comes-to-corruption-trump-is.htm

https://newrepublic.com/post/192012/jeff-bezos-change-washington-post-opinion  Bezos takes over editorial page of the Washington Post and will not allow dissent. https://newrepublic.com/post/192012/jeff-bezos-change-washington-post-opinionhttps://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cd650zdwe8do The Associated Press is denied access to White House pressers because it dared argue with Trump over the renaming of the Gulf of Mexico.   0352075501b779b8b187667f3427e0e8 

Beware. A warning to gullible voters who only listen to media they trust:\ https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4394676-grisham-trump-knows-he-can-basically-say-anything-and-his-base-will-believe/      

MUFTIC FORUM BLOG: Social media fans Zucked again? Update 1 14 2025

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/other/a-30-million-campaign-to-free-social-media-from-billionaire-control-is-now-underway/

Donald Trump has threatened to shut down broadcasters, but can he?

How Hungary's Orbán uses control of the media to escape scrutiny and keep the public in the dark | The Associated Press

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/hungarys-orban-vows-fast-crackdown-media-ngos-over-foreign-funding-2025-03-15/

Whoever controls and owns the media separates democracy from dictatorship by oligopoly updated 2.27. 2025

Update: 2/27/2025 The Associated Press has been barred from White House pressers; CBS was forced to settle a lawsuit over an interview with Kamala Harris; the owner of the Washington Post, billionaire Jeff Bezos, has taken over the Washington Post editorial page and will permit no dissent.  

 The free press is the last line of defense of democracy threatened by a president who now boasts he is a king. The free press is key to America becoming aware of the danger and the fallout that will also harm the very lives of American citizens.  Without a free press, voters will not even know that they have been hurt by whom, much less be able to mount a resistance.   Trump thinks he can lie, and he can get away with it because his loyal followers will believe any thing he says.   Grisham: Trump ‘knows he can basically say anything and his base will believe’   That is what it is like to live in a dictatorahip.  

: "Modern-day dictators have gained the power they seek because they have used modern technology to spin and mind-control their way to their position. .They spin the news to engineer their support" "The central goal remains the same: to monopolize political power. But today’s strongmen realize that in current conditions, violence is not always necessary or even helpful. Instead of terrorizing citizens, a skillful ruler can control them by reshaping their beliefs about the world. He can fool people into compliance and even enthusiastic approval. In place of harsh repression, the new dictators manipulate information. Like spin doctors in a democracy, they spin the news to  support. They are spin dictators." How Do Dictatorships Survive in the 21st Century? | Andrew Carnegie Fellows | Carnegie Corporation of New York   

The update at the end of the original posts poses a question:: Is American media beginning to self-censor? The update addresses differences in reporting Trump's mass deportation raids and media coverage compared with British coverage that puts it in a more realistic and accurate context. I have just subscribed to Reuters and I contribute to the Guardian. I will tap British press as a way to point out how American media is trying to keep in good graces under his threat of delicensing media of which he disapproves. CBS staff alarmed by reports of settlement talks with Trump over ‘60 Minutes’ Harris interview | Business | kten.com

Original post continues: For those concerned with oligopoly control of media, there are some very pertinent recent articles and opinion pieces. The dire warning: he who owns and controls the message controls minds and public opinion.  My own views of oligopoly, and another large body of references, go to the updated version, 1/16/2025,MUFTIC FORUM BLOG: New resistance opportunity arises: Rule by oligarchs and class warfare updated 1 14 and 16 2025  the day after Biden's farewell address warning us of oligopolies destroying democracy.  The free press is key to America becoming aware of the danger and the fallout that will also harm the very lives of American citizens.  Without a free press, voters will not even know that they have been hurt by whom, much less mount a resistance to such control.   Here are some references to this issue. 

Gullible voters? Trump thinks he could play you. Grisham: Trump ‘knows he can basically say anything and his base will believe’   His concept of common sense is what promotes him and his oligopoly of the rich, not the same as the rest of us.  Modern-day dictators have gained the power they seek because they have used modern technology to spin and mind-control their way to their position. "The central goal remains the same: to monopolize political power. But today’s strongmen realize that in current conditions, violence is not always necessary or even helpful. Instead of terrorizing citizens, a skillful ruler can control them by reshaping their beliefs about the world. He can fool people into compliance and even enthusiastic approval. In place of harsh repression, the new dictators manipulate information. Like spin doctors in a democracy, they spin the news to engineer support. They are spin dictators. How Do Dictatorships Survive in the 21st Century? | Andrew Carnegie Fellows | Carnegie Corporation of New York

Update version 1/16/2025: MUFTIC FORUM BLOG: New resistance opportunity arises: Rule by oligarchs and class warfare updated 1 14 and 16 2025

Beware. A warning to gullible voters who only listen to media they trust:\ https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4394676-grisham-trump-knows-he-can-basically-say-anything-and-his-base-will-believe/      

MUFTIC FORUM BLOG: Social media fans Zucked again? Update 1 14 2025

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/other/a-30-million-campaign-to-free-social-media-from-billionaire-control-is-now-underway/

Donald Trump has threatened to shut down broadcasters, but can he?

How Hungary's Orbán uses control of the media to escape scrutiny and keep the public in the dark | The Associated Press

Update 1 28 2025 Facebook post on the Muftic Forum page. American media...get a grip on yourself.

So not all of the deportees are criminals this week. Yes there were raids made. But figures of deportees are similar to both Obamas and Bidens figures. . Trump is looking like a hero the more you glorify and video and loop his actions without putting it in context. I went to the BBC for their take. American media is self censoring.

bbc.com

ICE arrests 956 migrants as part of Trump's immigration crackdown

There were raids in Miami, Chicago, Newark and New Jersey on Sunday in an operation involving several agencies.

Beyond two platitudes: freedom and democracy; credos and contrasts

 Listening to President Biden's speech at the cliffs of Normandy, in memorial of those who died in the epic invasion that turned the tide of World War II, leading to the defeat of Nazi Germany, I was struck by his repeated use of two words...freedom and democracy ...and how so many sacrificed for the United States to survive with those values. Those two words are used so much that they become platitudes when we forget their meanings. They can then easily be abused by those who have no clue of what they mean other than somehow they just sound right by those who think they are righteous. 

 Those who lost their lives in the Normandy invasion were not suckers and losers, as Trump called those who died in service to the defense of our country.  I was 6 years old then. My uncles fighting in both Europe and the Pacific were my heroes. I remember my parents  (dad was in charge of local strategic telephone services) dreading any telephone call or telegram arriving in our house because it could be bringing news of their death or injury.(we were fortunate; that news never came)  I never could imagine there would ever be those who could use it to mean the opposite of what we fought for, but now I have seen it happen. 

So here is what it means to me and what I am hearing from those who have turned it to mean the opposite.  These values of mine once got me scholarships from the Daughters of the American Revolution and the regional winner of the American oratorical contest in 1956.  While I did not always vote for Republicans and had many public policy differences, I always felt both they and their Democratic opponents saw democracy my way, up and down the ballot, without even thinking any American could believe anything else.  That is until Donald Trump came to political prominence. How many things have changed since then?

MAGA  in these following credos and comparisons refer to what I am hearing from their partisan leaders, media and elected officials, legislative and administrative spokespersons, and their most loyal supporters of Trump who believe he always speaks the truth. Whatever he says, they, too, must approve and do.   There are many who support MAGA candidates for business reasons or political advantage, who know better, but ambitions and wealth take precedence over the values of freedom and democracy.  They belong in a different category, sad, but they contribute with money and words,  nonetheless, and not unexpectedly.  It was Hitler's alliance with such b as well as Putin's and Orban's, who were and/or are theirs and Trump's enablers.

Freedom is not just the freedom enjoyed by one political party or loyalists to their leader; the same rights and the system protecting freedom apply to all, even to MAGA's opponents. 

Freedom then and now to me means my country is free from some foreign domination or control of my country. by an enemy or adversary.  It does not mean following the same rules of dictators and adversaries or opening the door to them in determining the outcome of our own elections, as MAGA means to do in slavish praise of Putin and Orban and their leader lusts to have the same kinds of power.  It does not mean appeasing such aggressors works or ever has,  just we once tried before they attacked us in December 1941. Aggressors see appeasement as a sign of weakness or a lack of resolve to resist.

Freedom means everyone enjoying the protections of the First Amendment and human and civil rights. It does not mean freedom for one group alone, able to suppress and dominate another group, as MAGA wants to do to control all of the power levers of the judicial system that determines their application and enforcement.

Democracy, even in its Greek form, means the rule of the people. To our founding fathers, it meant rule by and for the people. It does not mean rule by one man, of, by, and for him, a dictator, an autocrat, as MAGA wants to have.  

Democracy It does not mean that loyalists to the dictator control all the levers of the process of voting, only calling fair when their leader wins, and corrupt when he does not, so the results can be ignored or changed by loyal actors or overturned by violence.  It does not mean those who used violence on January 6  deserve to be pardoned for crimes the committed that day. and called patriots, as MAGA believes. 

Democracy It does not mean the autocrat in control should be immune from breaking criminal laws, as MAGA believes. It means that no man is above the law and ignores the law as the legislative branch intended, the branch elected by fair and free elections. 

Democracy does not mean truth and evidence are meaningless if they do not justify their autocrats' wishes to govern.  

Democracy does not mean media or press should be silenced or delicenced that does not support their dear, but MAGA's leader promised that if he has a chance to be elected again. 

Religion:  https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/09/opinion/presbyterian-church-evangelical-canceled.htmlNot my Presbyterian church. This one went rogue. I am a lifelong Presbyterian. There was a split years ago, and Presbyterian Church USA continued with the values I hold dear: inclusiveness and caring, holding high the Sermon on the Mount and the Golden Rule. Not this one.  Donald Trump, when asked his affiliation, says Presbyterian.  Ask him what kind. 

How Trump election would create chaos in our economy on day one

One casualty of the House chaos is also a lesson for what a Trump chaotic president would mean to the financial well-being of this country. Investors hate chaos, and it destroys faith that we can meet our nation's financial obligations in the future. The article below is what happened in mid-November in the middle of a chaotic House caused by a minority of fanatical Trump followers. Our nation's credit rating was downgraded. The potential of credit downgrades can harm consumers and investors in American business and in government bonds..

This Trump-caused chaos would be on steroids and make what just happened in mid-November look like a hiccup. It all begins on Day One of the Trump presidency, and his ducks were already in a row, official paper already drafted, approved, and printed, just waiting for him to give the word. sign the executive order, and appointments of only his loyalists and yes people.

Update 2 16 2024:https://thehill.com/business/4426965-trump-added-8-4-trillion-to-the-national-debt-analysis/ While Trump's debt was partially caused by COVID, nearly 2 billion of the debt was owed to the tax breaks to the rich and the loss of revenue to the federal coffers. Trump is right in citing the relief measures in financial help to Americans to help them cope with the loss of income as one of the contributing factors, but what does he mean? He was sorry he did it?

Imagine if Trump were elected in November 2024. .He has made it clear on day one, after signing every executive order and appointment order as ready to go that first day that puts his loyalists, including military brass and business regulatory agencies, replaced that day with those who were there for one reason: saying yes to the boss. Dissension would not be permitted, skills and experience were not valued, and warnings of unintended consequences were ignored.. Among those mandates he has promised is to sign the insurrection act, replace the Joint Chiefs, and call in the active military to put down any street demonstrations of which the "boss" disapproves. Imagine how something like the Women's March occurred immediately after Trump was sworn in the first time, and imagine the military putting that one down. There would be no Gen. Milley to say it was unconstitutional in his opinion, either. What if, on day one, his appointments to the Federal Communications Commission decided to launch an investigation of media with some flimsy pretext to yank their licenses.. The only sin that the media committed was that it had a history of being critical of Trump. Trump has promised that. What if, on day one, Trump issued an executive order to replace all civil servants with those who signed a loyalty pledge to Trump, which is exactly the plan already in the works and names taken by the "Heritage Foundation" and already funded as Plan 2025..

That is just for starters, as business people recalculate and scramble to adapt. International businesses have had plenty of experience in dictator Orban's Hungary and in Putin's Russia, with doing business with autocracies/dictatorships. That model of awarding business licenses and contracts to loyalists is the most corrupt system possible. Either the business becomes the bootlickers of the "boss" , they give kickbacks, or they use bribery of key officials to get decisions that go their way. If they crossed the 'boss" in Russia, they ended up in jail or got the poisonous jab, or their airplane crashed, killing all, or they "fell" off a balcony. Now, Navalny, in a gulag, has been "disappeared". Update 2 15 2024: R.I.P. Alexy Navalny whose sin was exposing the corruption of the Putin regime and turned that outrage into his opposition to Putin. His main crime: blowing the whistle on Putin's corrupt benefit from his position. In Hungary, you just got your license to do business taken away if you did not please "the boss." What if the 60 percent of those who do not want such a dictatorship and find the Department of Justice only prosecutes the disloyal to Trump have to take to the streets. Imagine what investors in the US bonds would do if that chaos happened. Chaos destroys economies and business dealings. The certainty that dictatorship brings is wealth follows those who please the "boss" , even if what is offered and awarded is not best practices but what the "boss" thinks.

The"boss" we know now got his wealth by lying to creditors and lenders and had over 20 bankruptcies."Boss" Trump made the decisions.

If judges throughout the country court proceedings to deal with challenges that the boss was acting unconstitutionally and the country is tied up in knots for years or if Congress tries to revolt against unpopular edicts from the Boss., Chaos would be a long-term matter, not a temporary transition to dictatorship..

CNBC.COM

US credit rating outlook lowered to "negative" by Moody's — here's why consumers should be worried

Moody's is the latest rating agency to lower the government's cre