The Titanic Presidency

It's big, flashy and opulent but poorly designed and destined for disaster.

   Speaking truth to power is a major responsibility of a free and independent press. When those in power refuse to listen to any who disagree, it becomes journalism's duty to speak louder.
   And just as the S.S. Titanic was launched with a fire in the belly of the ship already eroding its superstructure, so the current U.S. presidency does not yet have a strong enough internal structure to fully withstand a collision with reality. The president himself listens only if what he hears conforms to his own truth.
   Already, some senior hands have refused to get on board, others have been dismissed, and a few have abandoned Donald Trump's ship of state.
   Why? Because they feel they can be more effective in their criticism of the administration when speaking from the outside.
   And they may well be correct, because reality seems to have no influence on what those in charge believe. Moreover, the president seems determined to hire only sycophants who can pass a loyalty test. Anyone who has ever in the past been critical of the Vainglorious Leader is passed over for a place among the new crew.
   So it is today. The free and independent press must continue to speak truth to power, publishing and broadcasting fact when the denizens of the White House persist in hawking alternative facts, without evidence or any basis in reality.
   The president has called news media "the enemy of the people." The reality is that journalism is and should be an adversary of falsehoods, deceit and incompetence.
   Danger: Overconfidence and arrogance led the S.S. Titanic to lose its encounter with fire and ice and the ship sank.
   This year, fiery rhetoric about ICE is also likely to sink the Trump steamer.