Opinion By William H. Freivogel Two stories by mainstream media – an excellent one by the Washington Post and a terrible one by CNN – have provided President Trump more material for his fairy tales on Twitter. The Post reported a heavily sourced and deeply researched story showing that President Obama reacted cautiously to…
Commentary by William H. Freivogel During the Johnson and Nixon presidencies, the press talked about the credibility gap, first relating to Vietnam and later Watergate. During the Trump administration there is the credibility canyon. We begin with a president who has lied more than any other president over such a short time. Armies of…
Opinion By William H. Freivogel Many Americans are living in a fantasy world constructed by Fox News, Rush Limbaugh, Breitbart News and right-wing bloggers. In this fantasy world: President Donald Trump has more credibility than James B. Comey, the man he fired as FBI director. Comey has perjured himself by first testifying he wasn’t…
Commentary by William H. Freivogel During the presidential election, critics of the media maintained the press paid too much attention to Donald Trump’s tweets. Focusing on the tweets let Trump set the day’s news agenda and gave him oodles of free coverage, the critics said. Five months into Trump’s presidency it is the president’s lawyers,…
Commentary by William H. Freivogel President Donald J. Trump is playing his supporters for patsies. The First Amendment protects Trump’s lies to his Twitter followers, but it also protects the leaked stories that reveal them. Trump calls the burgeoning investigation of Russia’s interference in the presidential election “fake news” and a “witch hunt,” even as…