Press for Freedom

   The day has come and gone without the president making his highly touted "awards" for the worst journalism in America, according to his judgements.
   Instead, Sen. Jeff Flake, Republican of Arizona, took to the Senate floor to assail the president for attacking the press, and noted that calling the press "the enemy of the people," as Donald Trump has done numerous times, is the same phrase used by Josef Stalin. Moreover, the term "fake news," another term Trump uses often, has been picked up and repeated by dictators around the world.
   "We do not pay obeisance to the powerful," Flake said, and "no politician can tell us what the truth is." Moreover, the senator added, "A president who cannot take criticism is charting a very dangerous path." And he called on Congress to fight back against the dangers to the free press and free speech in America.
   Flake's speech was carried live on television, and portions were used throughout the day by news programs.
   The president himself did not send out messages on Twitter responding to the senator's speech. Instead, White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders claimed the reason for Flake's speech was that he was losing in the polls and therefore was not seeking re-election.
   As Flake pointed out, "the destructive effect" of the president's attack on the press "cannot be overstated."
   One can only speculate as to why the president did not announce his "fake news" awards today. Perhaps the mockery by comedians and commentators had something to do with it, or the pre-emptive strike by Flake defending the free press caused him to rethink his plans.
   Then again, perhaps he just forgot. Not likely. On the other hand, forgetting inconvenient facts is not uncommon among politicians of his ilk.
   For example, the current chief of the Department of Homeland Security, when asked about the president's apparent bias against immigrants from Africa, and his preference for newcomers from Norway, the Cabinet-level chief told a congressional panel, "I don't know for sure that Norway is predominantly white."
   Sure. Why would anyone with the name Kirsjten Nielsen know anything about someplace like Norway?
   Then again, Sarah Palin, the former governor of Alaska and a one-time Republican candidate for vice president, claimed that her foreign policy credentials included this: "I can see Russia from my house."
   Ignorance of geography and demographics seems to be no barrier to qualification for high office, especially among Republicans in America.