Celebrity Apprentice President: Premier Primetime TV Show Jan 20, 2017 — ????

Host and Only Star: Donald “T-weeter” Trump

(Prop Master: Stephen “K-ick 'em in the groin” Bannon)

This post originally appeared at Robert Reich.org with this heading:

“Democracy depends on a free and independent press, which is why all tyrants try to squelch it. They use seven techniques that, worryingly, (Then) (but Now) President-elect Donald Trump already employs.”

The following extracts were grabbed from here (Bill Moyers and Company), December 1, 2016). The 7 key highlights follow. More details on each item is at the site. Check it out – good stuff:

1. Berate the media. According to an attendee at this event, “Trump kept saying, ‘we’re in a room of liars, the deceitful, dishonest media who got it all wrong.’” Then he called CNN a “network of liars.” Another person who attended the meeting said Trump “truly doesn’t seem to understand the First Amendment. He thinks we are supposed to say what he says and that’s it.”

2. Blacklist critical media. During the campaign, Trump blacklisted news outlets whose coverage he didn’t approve of.

3. Turn the public against the media. Trump refers to journalists as “lying,” “dishonest,” “disgusting” and “scum.” Referring to the journalists at his rallies, Trump said, “I hate some of these people,” adding (presumably in response to allegations of Vladimir Putin’s treatment of dissident journalists) “but I’d never kill ‘em.”

4. Condemn satirical or critical comments. Trump continues to condemn the coverage he’s received from NBC’s Saturday Night Live. In response to Alec Baldwin’s recent portrayal of him as overwhelmed by the prospect of being president, Trump tweeted that it was a “totally one-sided, biased show — nothing funny at all. Equal time for us?”

5. Threaten the media directly. Trump said he plans to change libel laws in the United States so that he can have an easier time suing news organizations.

6. Limit media access. In 2000, President-elect George W. Bush called a press conference three days after the Supreme Court determined the outcome of the election. In 2008, President-elect Obama also meet with the press three days after being elected.

7. Bypass the media and communicate with the public directly. The American public learns what Trump thinks through his tweets. 

I thought this was worth posting and as I said, very good stuff. Thanks for stopping by and a special thanks to Robert Reich and Bill Moyers.