I’m sure it will be ok, because the states can handle it.
But muh states raights!
They really should stop calling these actions of the “US Justice Department” and start calling them the “Trump Justice Department”. This isn’t a move for justice but wielding the state to attack enemies. While framing it in the standard way may seem like neutral objective journalism it’s very much not actually explaining the situation.
The US media doesn’t know how to reconcile legitimate institutions being used for objectively illegitimate ends.
Rightly, the media should report solely on the facts, but there is no mandate that reporters cannot use basic powers of reasoning and cannot draw inherent conclusions from undeniable premises. They can and should note the foundational point that these actions are incompatible with the DOJ mandate to seek public redress for criminal action based on factual investigation and evidence, and therefore are not legitimate. These moves are political choices first and legal justification backfill second.
Instead, when we have a nihilistic force wielding the DOJ for corrupt ends, reporters feels they can only describe what is happening, like a passive camera lens, unless relegated to “opinion” articles. And that is where this is all falling apart.
Most MSM is also owned by billionaires who will not allow them to speak ill of the gold hoarding dragons who burn down the towns
Billionaire oligarchs do flex their muscle, but when that happens, we usually hear about it because (a) reporters do predominantly have a “journalistic code” that they try to live by, and (b) there’re too many people involved for it not to leak when suppression actively happens.
I think instead, reporters are chilled by pressure in general and become overcautious while rationalizing it as their code. E.g., Trump is a litigious psychopath, an aspiring and now active authoritarian, and reporters probably generally know that. And they wouldn’t “cowe” to threats of retribution. But the anxiety of those threats makes them hyper-aware when they write an article, and then overcompensate by removing “bias” when it is merely bias towards reality. Consciously, they are still independent. But effectively, they are pulling punches.
That’s how manipulative sociopaths use threats of retribution - it isn’t just “I’ll make your life hell if you oppose me” and a direct obedience. No, the victim rebels, feels anger, resentment, plans revenge. But over time, they also change their behavior, even if they feel it’s tactical and temporary (“pick your battles”).
I say this not to be pedantic. I think it’s really important to understand what’s happening here. “Oligarchs control media” is true in some cases, and I agree it’s an enormous problem - that itself is part of the chilling anxiety reporters feel to “triple check” their material, and centralized power is always its own problem - but we have to identify the disease properly if we want to find a cure.
There’s a third reason: educated professionals will use the tools at their disposal to resist bosses getting in the way of them doing their job right.
Sounds like a job for an adventuring party
The letter sent from the Justice Dept to CalEPA, signed by Harmeet Dhillon (a certified pos): LINK
