First Amendment

Shocking Abuse Of Power: Censorship Mounting In Wake Of Charlie Kirk Assassination

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The Charlie Kirk Assassination is, shockingly, leading to a massive abuse of power by Donald Trump and his administration.

The latest shock is that comedian Jimmy Kimmel’s ABC late evening program has been preempted indefinitely, because ABC has been threatened at losing its Federal Communications Commission license to operate, if they did not yank his program, due to comments made about Charlie Kirk.

This censorship follows CBS canceling comedian Stephen Colbert’s late evening show, effective in the late Spring 2026, but who can say that Colbert might not be “canceled” sooner than then?

CBS already made a legal settlement with Donald Trump, as did ABC earlier, over Trump’s accusations of unfair treatment. And CNN may soon be linked with CBS as part of a massive media merger, a danger sign for freedom of speech and press, and the First Amendment. Also, Trump has sued the New York Times for $15 billion for what Trump calls their lies about him,

The Washington Post under Jeff Bezos fired a columnist for her comments about Charlie Kirk, and there have been other media people who have been dismissed, and powerful corporate interests are rapidly consolidating control of news media into fewer hands, of billionaire oligarchs.

Additionally, universities are going after professors and staff, in a reaction that is shocking, along with many corporations, dismissing staff for their comments posted in only one week since the Charlie Kirk tragedy.

This unfortunate situation, leading to what looks like a move toward totalitarian control, reminds of the Reichstag Fire in Nazi Germany in 1933, which moved Adolf Hitler toward absolute power over his population.

America is in a constitutional crisis, deeper than ever, as we near eight months of this second Trump term!

How critics and opponents will be able to continue to resist is seen as a living, endless, nightmare!

Scott Pelley Of “Sixty Minutes” Issues Warning On Authoritarianism!

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Journalist Scott Pelley of CBS’s “Sixty Minutes”, has many years of reputable work at that news source. He gave a scathing commencement speech at Wake Forest University in North Carolina a week ago, against the authoritarian ideology of Donald Trump, which has provoked wild, vehement accusations from Fox News Channel and its disgraceful talk show hosts.

Pelley, rightfully, warned of the threat to freedom of speech and press represented by the Trump Administration’s attack on journalism, higher education, and law firms.

He also condemned the arrest of foreign students on visas for their use of their right of freedom of speech to criticize the Israel-Gaza War, as well as the attacks on voting rights being perpetrated by the federal government under Donald Trump.

Pelley condemned the fear being promoted by Trump loyalists who are working to undermine the Bill of Rights, and his rhetoric was uncompromising, setting an example for Americans who are terrified at the authoritarian bent of Trump and his supporters.

Pelley has been attacked as being “unhinged”, another of a multitude of examples of “projection”, accusing critics of Trump of what Trump and his supporters do regularly, speak and act in an “unhinged” manner.

Pelley is doing a great service in using his reputation to promote opposition to the dangerous trend that is running amuck around Trump, the movement toward authoritarian Fascism.

If Americans lose the First Amendment, then democracy and the rule of law is lost long term.

Trump Threatens Actions Against NPR, PBS, MSNBC, CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS, NY Times, Washington Post–Challenge To Accurate News Coverage!

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Donald Trump has been lashing out against a free press, guaranteed under the First Amendment

In his political speech at the Department of Justice last Friday, totally inappropriate, he called for ending the licenses of news stations, including CNN, MSNBC, ABC, NBC, and CBS.

Trump also is calling for the end of government support of PBS and NPR. And he has attacked the two leading newspapers of record–the NY Times and Washington Post.

Trump has pressured changes by the management of cable stations and newspapers to appease his administration, a very alarming development.

He has also called, specifically, for the firing of Nicolle Wallace and Rachel Maddow, and applauded the fact that Joy Reid was removed from MSNBC.

Trump has had past fights with Jim Acosta, who recently left CNN.

He has managed to convince Jeff Bezos, one of the three wealthiest billionaires, and owner of the Washington Post, to interfere with free expression by columnists, leading many to leave that paper, and causing a major drop in online subscriptions.

He is trying to promote an obedient press that will not report anything negative about his Presidency, wishing to promote mistruths rather than truth and facts.

Courageous and principled journalists are refusing to bend to his demands, and he has called them enemies, and many of these people and organizations may face outrageous and illegal prosecutions by the Department of Justice under Attorney General Pam Bondi, who is only too willing to bend to the President’s wishes and whims.

The survival of a free press and news media is urgent to preserve American democracy and the rule of law, so this is an ongoing battle that must be fought without retreat!

Celebration Of Journalism At White House Correspondents’ Dinner!

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Last night, for the first time since 2016, the profession of journalism was celebrated at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner in Washington DC.

The years in between had included Donald Trump boycotting the event, and then the COVID 19 Pandemic made such events not possible for a few years.

President Joe Biden saluted the importance of the profession of journalism, which has been under vicious attacks by the extremist right wing Republican party elements, led by Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis, and a multitude of other authoritarian leaders, with only a small percentage resisting such condemnation of the truth of events.

Journalism is what keeps a nation free and informed, and it is the job of journalism to expose facts, truth, reality, no matter what or who it exposes to the light of day!

Journalism and journalists are under constant attack, and in many nations, including the Russian Federation, Iran, mainland China, North Korea, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and a multitude of other nations that attack democracy, journalists are arrested, tortured, and murdered.

These journalists are true heroes, and America must not allow the forces of evil in this nation to destroy the First Amendment, and suppress the reality of the attack on women’s rights, civil rights, gay and lesbian rights, gun regulations, voting rights, education, environmental advancement, and so much more!

Donald Trump Creates New Threat With Call For Protests When And If He Is Arrested!

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The nightmare of Donald Trump continues, as this weekend, he predicted he will be arrested on Tuesday, March 21, by the NY District Attorney in the “Stormy Daniels” case, one of many cases pending against Trump.

In comparative terms, this case of paying Stormy Daniels $130,000 through his former attorney, Michael Cohen, seems minor, compared to the Georgia case, the January 6 Insurrection case, and the Mar A Lago retention of government documents cases.

What Trump is doing is encouraging his supporters to rise up when the predicted arrest occurs, and this creates a situation that could lead to the kind of bloodshed and violence that occurred on January 6, 2021, at the US Capitol.

Certainly, those supportive of Trump, as well as those opposed to Trump, have the right of protest as a constitutionally guaranteed right, under the First Amendment, but not to the utilization of bloodshed and violence.

And it creates the issue whether such an arrest might actually increase the odds of Trump winning the Republican Presidential nomination in 2024, and even possibly winning the election, a horrifying and dangerous scenario!

Points To Ponder As Second Impeachment Trial Of Donald Trump Begins

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As the second impeachment trial of Donald Trump begins today, some points to ponder are worth considering.

Donald Trump lied incessantly over a fixed election when 60 court cases unanimously agreed the election in the various states being contested was totally fair, and lacking any corruption, as compared to 2016 and other earlier electionss.

Donald Trump was gleeful, enjoying the Capitol Insurrection, and unconcerned about the harm being done to the building, and the occupants, including many members of both houses of Congress, and Capitol Hill Police and staff members.

Donald Trump was inciting violence against his own Vice President, Mike Pence, and the Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, the two people in line of succession after himself, and had no concern about their welfare.

Donald Trump did not call in National Guard reinforcements promptly, forcing Mike Pence to assert himself finally after four years of being obsequious.

Donald Trump has never expressed any sense of sorrow over the loss of life of a Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, and the other four victims of the Capitol Insurrection.

Donald Trump incited the mob by his language, and cannot claim that what he said was not promoting violence and destruction.

Donald Trump is like any citizen, not above the law, accountable for his behavior and actions, and does not have the constitutional right to promote insurrection and sedition, which is not part of freedom of speech under the First Amendment.

Donald Trump should be convicted as a warning to future Presidents that such abuse of power and promotion of violence and destruction will not be tolerated, and that politics is not the issue, but the survival of American democracy, and the regulation of executive power in the Presidency!

Donald Trump, The Fascist Wannabe: Attacking Conservative Support Of States Rights, And First Amendment Right To Freedom Of Speech And Assembly

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Donald Trump is demonstrating how he is a Fascist Wannabe, and in so doing, he is attacking conservatives who support states rights, and attacking all decent people who uphold the First Amendment right to freedom of speech and freedom of assembly.

Trump’s sending of military forces incognito to Portland, Oregon to use tear gas and rubber bullets against mostly peaceful demonstrators calling for change in race relations and for accountability of police, has not been called for by the Oregon state government or the Portland city government, but two night ago, even the Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler was personally tear gassed by these unaccountable forces unleashed by Trump! And Trump ridiculed Wheeler on Twitter, making fun of him, after he was assaulted with tear gas!

There is no breakdown of law and order, and there is no right of the President to send in what is best described as storm troopers, without name plates or identifying, to detain people and kidnap them from the scene. The local police are in charge of anything that has to be dealt with, not a secret, unaccountable force authorized by Attorney General William Barr, who is the most abusive and corrupt leader of the Justice Department in its history!

Conservatives with principles are up in arms about the violation of states rights on this matter, and it reminds many of the Nazi storm troopers who abused people and brought about Nazi absolutism under Adolf Hitler. Conservatives, but also anyone interested in promoting freedom, are alarmed by this going on in not just Portland, but now the threat of it also showing up in Albuquerque, New Mexico; Seattle; Chicago; Detroit; Philadelphia; New York and other cities.

Republican groups, such as the Lincoln Project, are condemning what Trump is authorizing, as unlawful!

The job of keeping order is up to local and state authorities, and only when they call for federal intervention, does the US government have authority to intervene.

And the right of freedom of speech and assembly, and ability to call for redress of grievances in a peaceful manner, is inscribed in the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights.

This alone, forgetting for the moment all of the other multitude of violations of law, would be enough to impeach and remove both Donald Trump and William Barr, for corruption and abuse of power in office!

The Department of Homeland Security and its subsidiary, Customs and Border Patrol, is breaking the Constitution, with the approval of Trump and Barr.

If this is not a move toward Fascism, then nothing is so!

Freedom Of Speech And Racism, Antisemitism, Nativism, Misogyny: Public Rebuke Of Public Figures Required As Punishment, As With Roseanne!

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The First Amendment protects freedom of speech and freedom of the press.

Anyone can say whatever they wish to say, and if they use social media, they can express their thoughts in print.

But that does not mean that the right to speak should protect racists, antisemites, nativists, and misogynists from public condemnation, or that it should protect public figures from public rebuke, including potential loss of their employment, and any other public punishment short of imprisonment.

The case of Roseanne Barr is such a case.

Roseanne Barr can certainly have her own thoughts and opinions, but that does not protect her from public denunciation, and actions to punish her, and take away her career.

For any public figure to express such biases as Roseanne Barr has done for many years is simply disgusting, and beyond the pale.

And it should be the same for every politician, whether local, state or national, to face repudiation and to be forced out of office as unAmerican.

And for a President to use his office to spew hate and disdain for so many groups of Americans should, just by itself, be justification for impeachment and removal from office.

Remember that impeachment has nothing to do with legalities, and any President, Vice President, Federal Court Judge or Justice, and any Cabinet officer can be brought up on impeachment charges on any grounds that a majority of the House agree are reasons for impeachment.

Donald Trump’s verbal behavior on Twitter and in the public square, as well as his actions, are a better case for impeachment than was faced by Andrew Johnson in 1868 and by Bill Clinton in 1998-1999.

And it seems clear more than ever that the case against Donald Trump for impeachment far surpasses even the impeachment route pursued against Richard Nixon in 1974 before he resigned in disgrace!

Trump’s Constant Attacks On Journalism Will Lead Some Crazy Trump Supporter To Perpetrate A Crime Against A Journalist!

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The Founding Fathers understood the role of Journalism.

Abraham Lincoln understood the role of Journalism.

The same situation existed for Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and every other President before and since FDR, until now we have a President, Donald Trump, who wishes to curb the First Amendment guarantee of freedom of the press.

No President, and no public figure likes when he or she is criticized, attacked, exposed, for one’s shortcomings, and sometimes illegal acts.

But the right of the people to know the facts, the truth, and be aware of investigations of their public officials, is sacrosanct.

In a totalitarian dictatorship, the first thing that disappears is freedom of the press, and in many such nations historically, journalists become victims of crooked and corrupt leaders.

By Donald Trump attacking journalists as “bad” people, as un-American, as people who are lacking in patriotism, he is endangering all journalists and bloggers, as there are unstable people in society that hang on every word of a demagogue, such as Trump, and are ready to “mete out justice” against such “criminals”, meaning stalking and harming them, with the purpose of murdering them as their mission to help their “devoted” leader.

If any journalist in the Trump Administration time period is harmed, Donald Trump is responsible for it by his inciting of whackos who believe he is God’s gift to America, and he should be held accountable, as an accessory to the crime if such evil event occurs.

Let us hope and pray that we survive the Trump Era without more loss of life as at Charlottesville, Virginia!

Dangerous Trend: Young White Males In Teens, 20s, 30s, Joining White Supremacist Groups: What Does It Tell Us About American Society?

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The shocking demonstration of racial violence and hatred this past week at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville demonstrates a dangerous trend.

To witness the scenes of hundreds of young white males in their teens, 20s, and 30s coming to Virginia, drawn there by white supremacy and white nationalism, and being associate4 with the Ku Klux Klan, neo Nazi and neo Confederate groups, was totally stunning.

It reminded one of Nazi Germany, and among the organizers and provocateurs were David Duke, Richard Spencer, Jared Taylor, and Jason Kessler, all right wing extremists who are antisemites, racists, nativists, and misogynists.

All of this was encouraged by the racist, nativist, miosogynistic, homophobia, and tones of antisemitism in the Donald Trump Presidential campaign, and his initial response to the tragedy was a disgrace, claiming that all sides were responsible for the horrendous violence, including the death of a wonderful young woman, Heather Heyer.

It was sickening to see right wing extremists attack Heather Heyer after her death for being single in her 30s and being overweight, a truly obscene display of how many of this ilk look at women in a very misogynistic and sexist manner.

Trump won the Presidency with a large white supremacist following in key locations, and his Alt Right aides Stephen Bannon and Stephen Miller remaining on his staff as one writes this is a cancer on the Trump Presidency, and another good reason to force him out of office as soon as possible, as he is a disgrace to the office he holds.

But meanwhile, what does one do about these young men with criminal intentions? How were they brought up to hate this much by their own families? This is a true sickness in our society, which portends large amounts of bloodshed and violence over the coming years. For sure, we must insist that the full measure of the law be applied against everyone who uses white nationalism and white supremacy as their mantra.

And it is good that Texas A & M prevents a similar rally in September, and the same should happen with the University of Florida, as this is not the First Amendment in play, but simply pure racial and antisemitic hatred, out to provoke violence and bloodshed.

Trump’s sudden meltdown this afternoon, attacking the victims of the white supremacists and equating both sides in the demonstrations as equals, led White House Chief of Staff General John Kelly to hang his head in shame and shock, as he realized Trump had become totally unhinged. This is further proof of just how mentally ill, and lacking in ethics and morality our President is, and he must be forced out of office for the good of the nation!

The Republican Party must, for its historical record and its dignity, stop pretending that what Trump says and does has no impact on them or the nation. They must show courage and moral authority, or else the GOP is dead!