Fake News Brigade

Earlier today there was an interesting moment during the White House Press Briefing.  In a recently rare briefing that allowed cameras Deputy Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders goes after the media by telling them how dishonest they are.  This is based on one story published by CNN about Trump friend Anthony Scaramucci and a disputable anonymous source.  The people involved in the soft-story were fired and the heads of CNN issued a statement saying that any articles relating to the Trump-Russia investigation will need clearance before publishing.  During her speech Brian Karem, columnist for Playboy and the Montgomery County Sentinel, interrupts her to let her know how most of the press feel about this barrage.

Puppet Strings

Unless you are someone who has absolutely zero interest in politics you probably have noticed the tight control of responses coming from the Trump administration within his first month in control.  Whether it is Kellyanne Conway, Sean Spicer, or Stephen Miller there is an unwavering theme that goes through the visible representatives of the Trump truck and that is the irrational concept that the media (with the exceptions of Fox News and Breitbart) are fake/wrong/un-American and that the President's authority and "wisdom" is trustworthy to the point that we shouldn't question his motives.

Alternative Facts

Yesterday Press Secretary Sean Spicer lashed out at the media for it's report of the attendance numbers at Trump's inauguration Friday.  To put the numbers in perspective let's do this:

• 1993 (Clinton): 800,000
• 1997 (Clinton): 250,000
• 2001 (Bush): 300,000
• 2005 (Bush): 400,000
• 2009 (Obama): 1.8 Million
• 2013 (Obama): 1 Million
• 2017 (Trump): 250,000 (estimated)