Rebellion

   Government attorneys are defying a presidential order banning refugees from coming to America.
   The acting U.S. Attorney General, Sally Yates, ordered the Justice Department not to defend court challenges to President Donald Trump's executive order on immigration.
   Within hours, came this headline: "Trump to Yates: You're fired!"
   Yates was a holdover appointee from the Obama Administration, who has suddenly been replaced while Trump's nominee, Jeff Sessions, waits for approval by the Senate.
   Nearly 20 state attorneys general have already called the order illegal.
   And a memo is circulating among officials at the State Department criticizing the executive order, prompting White House press secretary Sean Spicer to say dissenting career officials should "either get with the program or go."
   Question: How will the Trump Administration cope with a mass walkout of career professionals in key government offices? Such a departure could effectively bring government to a halt.

   Spicer's comment echoes the demand from senior advisor Steve Bannon that the press should "keep its mouth shut," as well as Trump's complaint that he is "waging war" with news media.
   But unlike other professionals, journalists cannot "get with the program," much less keep their mouths shut as elected officials try to defeat them and prevent them from doing their jobs.
   A free press in America is not and can never be "part of the team," as corporate moguls and sports coaches would have it. Reporters ask tough questions because the questions need to be asked. And if that means being labeled "adversarial," so be it.
   The reality is that journalists are neither adversaries nor advocates. Their responsibility is to the general public, not to any politician or government official.
   And that includes a President.
   Courtesy and respect, yes. But subservience? Never.