Trump Fights Fire With Fire (Sort Of) | Russia Conference Reaction

Presidents have always hated the press. Even the founding fathers had their beef with the journalists of their time. George Washington saw himself as a unifier and despised the factionalism they promoted. He even cancelled 30 of his subscriptions just prior to taking office. Our second president, John Adams, took this much further with the Alien and Sedition Acts, which made it a criminal offense to be critical of the federal government. Whether or not there was truth behind the critics allegations was entirely irrelevant. Fortunately, the Sedition Act wasn’t very popular and soon expired, giving the press free reign to slime and slander the President as they see fit. And boy have they taken advantage of that. 

In today’s modern world of grandiose hyperbole, this natural conflict is even more exaggerated. Technology has taken us from paper boys carrying newspapers on horseback, to radio broadcasters giving nightly reports, to TV pundits talking 24/7, and now to the world of Twitter and Facebook where everyone can give their instantaneous reaction to, well, everything. And all of this has served to pull back the curtain and exacerbate an already contentious relationship. One naturally made worse by the fact these two institutions are dependent on each other. 

And now, there’s President Trump. A man who does not shy away from conflict. A man who does not pretend to be politically correct. A man who, if provoked, will retaliate such force and ferocity the easily offended will shudder in terror. In fact, it’s one of his often touted Trump Cards: Fight Back.  

“Much as it pays to emphasize the positive, there are times when the only choice is confrontation. In most cases I’m very easy to get along with. I’m very good to people who are good to me. But when people treat me badly or unfairly or try to take advantage of me, my general attitude, all my life, has been to fight back very hard. The risk is that you’ll make a bad situation worse, and I certainly don’t recommend this approach to everyone. But my experience is that if you’re fighting for something you believe in—even if it means alienating some people along the way—things usually work out for the best in the end.”  -Donald Trump

Now let's talk about that press conference yesterday.

Highlights:

• Mike Flynn was forced to resign after Russia leaks
• The media spent a whole lot of time talking about it, and insinuated more nefarious possibilities
• Trump predictably shouted "FAKE NEWS"
• Trump held a press conference where he displayed--for Trump standards--relative temperance
• The MSM disagrees with me, calling Trump "unhinged", "wild", and "chaotic"
• We can expect a whole lot more of this over the next four years

The conflict between these two institutions has always existed and will always exist. And in our world of tech and Trump, it's only become more exaggerated. 

And I have to admit, it's fun to watch.