Trump: Im President, So No More Protest or Media Accountability

[babylonsister]

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2017/02/trump-im-president-so-no-more-protest-or-accountability.html?mid=twitter-share-di

Trump: I’m President, So No More Protest or Media Accountability
By Jonathan Chait


Donald Trump is not an autocrat yet, and he may never become one. But his administration continues to broadcast autocratic views on politics. It is worth highlighting some of these statements simply because a kind of discourse that once would have been considered shocking has quickly become routine.

This morning, Trump repeated one of his favorite authoritarian tropes by insisting that protesters against him have been secretly paid — “Professional anarchists, thugs and paid protesters,” he ranted on Twitter. Kellyanne Conway, meanwhile, insists that protests are not democratic. “There’s nothing peaceful and nothing democratic about folks who are out there just trying to re-litigate the election and protesting things they know nothing about,” she tells Sean Hannity. The election result, in Conway’s view, settled all political questions, and any protest against Trump’s policies is therefore undemocratic.

Trump likewise believes that he is entitled to a greater level of deference and respect because he controls the presidency. Conway (whose influence with Trump lies in her ability and willingness to articulate his beliefs in the media) made this complaint a few weeks ago: “We got no forbearance, we got nothing, we got no respect. We … this man is president of the United States.” Yesterday, in the same interview, Conway made the case that reporters should treat Trump more deferentially now than they did during the campaign:

I only care, Sean, if people are being disrespectful to the President of the United States. That is unacceptable. I was raised to respect the office of the president and its current occupant no matter who it’s been, and I just think you can’t really show a difference in the coverage of Donald Trump among some of these outlets and some of these reporters and tweeters, between when he was running for president, when he became the nominee for the Republicans, when he was the president-elect, and now when he’s president. The coverage never changed, it never progressed, it never matured. It never took on the aura of respect that it deserved, and if you are not showing the president and his main spokespeople respect, then you’re not showing the office respect …

It is true that Trump gets worse coverage than the typical newly inaugurated president. But this is because he has persisted in his campaign practices of telling comically obvious untruths (33 of them so far by Trump alone, by one count) and shredding long-standing ethical standards. Conway believes that Trump is entitled to friendly, or at least friendlier, coverage as a matter of respect for the office that he holds. The Trump administration believes the proper time for public criticism and accountability ended with the campaign. The survival of American democracy will hinge upon whether it gets the chance to put its beliefs into practice.

[guillaumeb]

1. Recommended.

“We got no forbearance, we got nothing, we got no respect. We … this man is president of the United States.” Yesterday, in the same interview, Conway made the case that reporters should treat Trump more deferentially now than they did during the campaign:

Describing a man who respects nothing, a man who disrespected President Obama, a man who treats everyone with contempt, this is beyond ironic.

[Phoenix61]

2. You have to wonder if they believe their own bs

or just spew crap thinking we will believe it.

[dchill]

9. I'm quite sure Trump believes it.

Also quite sure no one else does. But they've long known how to act like they do. It's their living.

[Denzil_DC]

3. They'd have a slightly stronger case

if they'd shown any glimmer of respect for "the office of the president" during the previous occupancy.

Conway needs to learn that you can't demand respect, or you end up sounding like Cartman. You have to earn it. And one way to earn it is to display it yourself toward others and quit insulting people's intelligence with spin and lies and insults.

And then there's everything else about this incompetent, sinister clusterfuck that they just want everyone to ignore.

[Shrike47]

6. Very nicely put.

[yonder]

7. Amen! -nt

[TeamPooka]

14. +1000 K&R nt

[Old Terp]

4. He lost any claim to respect during the transition.

Yes, we don't have proof that he didn't win the Electoral College, but he REALLY lost the popular vote. We really do dislike him. He hasn't earned respect and I doubt that he ever will. He is an unpopular president heading toward the end of his term.

[elmac]

5. "I was raised to respect the office of the president"

that sure showed when he went after president Obama's birth certificate.

[Shrike47]

8. If he acted like a president instead of a TV reality show host, people might think better of him.

He can't get respect when he's not respectable. I don't think he knows what dignity is. Constant self-aggrandizement does not engender respect. His compulsion to pat himself on the back at every opportunity for successes real or imagined would be pathetic if he couldn't do so much harm. He merits the revulsion he inspires.

[Cha]

10. Imagine if President Obama said shit like this? But he didn't

because he believes in the Democratic process.. and he's not a fucking idiot despot like the whiny ass trump.

[workinclasszero]

11. FO Orange Hitler!

[Bernardo de La Paz]

12. +1 President Theodore Roosevelt, a braver wiser more enlightened man than tRump. . . nt

[workinclasszero]

15. Trump wants to sell off national parks to strip mine outfits

clear cutters and strip mall operators.

Teddy Roosevelt would not be amused.

[benld74]

13. If U give respect, respect will return to U

I have NOT seen nor heard any person in this administration give/show respect to anyone or anything
Other than DT.

[Warren DeMontague]

16. You mean like "SHOW US YUR BIRF CERTIFFIKIT!!!111!! "..?

That kind of respect?

[smirkymonkey]

17. Oh, but it's different for him. He's white.

I mean orange. Well, at least not black.

[Solly Mack]

18. Fuck her and her president. How's that for respect?

[manicraven]

19. Con-Way's demands remind me of when Jeb demanded people clap.

When you have to demand or beg for appreciation, even if people do respond, it comes off as hollow and insincere. Respect is earned. Yes, tRump is not campaigning now, but he has done NOTHING since "winning" to earn any respect: he still lies, he still whines like a 2-year-old, he insults our allies, he has an ongoing bromance with Putin, he created a Muslim ban for no good reason, he's appointed incompetent people, etc., etc., etc.

[DallasNE]

20. Turn Back The Clock Exactly 8 Years

"The Trump administration believes the proper time for public criticism and accountability ended with the campaign. The survival of American democracy will hinge upon whether it gets the chance to put its beliefs into practice."

How well did the Republicans accommodate President Obama's "beliefs into practice". Republicans huddled on January 20, 2009 to plot ways to make Obama a one-term President and the tool of choice was complete obstruction and requiring 60 votes in the Senate to pass every bill. By this standard American democracy has already failed to survive so it can't fail again. And to a considerable degree it has failed to survive. Here I am talking about the Supreme Court decision to gut the Voting Rights Act and the various States that enacted voter suppression measures.

But let's consider the source. It is KellyAnne Conway, master of "alternative truth" saying this. Her own boss made every attempt to delegitimize President Obama by falsely claiming he was born in Kenya (while not having an issue with Ted Cruz being born in Canada and a dual citizen).

[Dark n Stormy Knight]

21. Remind me of when the Rs made that demand regarding President Obama, Conjob. When did the Rs insist

that everyone must respect President Obama?

Hint for you, Connie--it didn't happen. In FACT, it was the exact opposite in word and deed, and that's an actual fact, not an "alternative fact" (AKA blatant lie.)

[jodymarie aimee]

22. Wisconsin

for 6 years now. Walker has our state locked down. We have no power or voice I truly hope USA does not become Wisconsin.

[malaise]

23. He will learn

that he has no such power.
Of course his personal attack on Obama (a complete and total lie) was just fine.