Friends, my latest article addresses CNN's ridiculous lawsuit, by which Jim Acosta is trying to force his way back into the White House, so he can disrespect the President to his heart's content. Outrageously, Fox News is voicing support for CNN and Acosta. Is it time for conservatives to change the channel, or chuck their TVs into the nearest well? I leave that up to you...
Fox News Should Be Ashamed Of Its
Support For CNN And Jim Acosta
Conservatives are
rightly shocked and dismayed by two recent decisions by Fox News, an
allegedly Republican-friendly organization. First, Fox decided to ban
President Trump's anti-illegal immigration campaign ad after CNN
decided it was “racist”. Note that Fox, NBC, and other media
outlets didn't discover this racism on their own. No, they needed
that paragon of journalistic integrity, CNN, as well as a Twitter
mob, to find it for them. Hardly a profile in courage or a sign of
sound judgment on the part of Fox News.
Now, Fox News has
compounded its sins by filing an amicus brief supporting CNN's recent
lawsuit against the White House. The lawsuit aims to force the Trump
administration and the Secret Service to restore the press pass of
legendary blowhard Jim Acosta. The White House terminated Acosta's
access to the White House grounds after he refused to surrender the
floor during a recent press conference, and in fact he refused to
give the microphone back to a White House intern who was attempting
to reclaim it. This was the last straw for Sarah Sanders, who decided
that some semblance of order had to be restored to the interactions
between the administration and the media, and some standard of
professionalism, respect, and courtesy had to be enforced on White
House journalists.
Amazingly, CNN
alleges in its lawsuit that Jim Acosta's constitutional rights have
been violated. His rights to free speech, press freedom, and “due
process” apparently entitle him to question the President, at
whatever length he deems appropriate, on national television. The
audacity of this claim is breathtaking, but that Fox News would
subscribe to this specious logic is a bitter blow to those
conservatives who thought that Fox, at the very least, could be
depended on to give Donald Trump a fair shake. Not so.
Consider the
facts: Jim Acosta is a free man in a free country. He has been
lavishly criticizing Sarah Sanders and Donald Trump, on Twitter and
by other means, continuously – before, during, and after the
infamous press conference. No one is interfering with his right to
free speech in any way, and nor is he unable to work as a reporter.
In fact, more people are listening to the siren song of Acosta-ism
now than ever before. One might even say that the...volume of his
speech has been turned up dramatically, courtesy of the President's
low opinion of him.
Despite
this, Acosta and CNN claim that the Constitution guarantees them
access
to the President. Now, keep in mind that a pass to gain entrance to
the White House grounds is technically irrelevant to Acosta's ability
to pose challenging questions to the President of the United States.
Trump can always refuse to call on Acosta at press conferences, even
if the “rude, terrible person” is present.
Or perhaps I speak too hastily: perhaps CNN feels Acosta is entitled
not just to stroll the White House grounds, but also to buttonhole
the President (and Sarah Sanders) as often as he wishes. Perhaps
Acosta is even entitled to favorable camera angles, a glass of cool,
refreshing water before each of his tirades, and a good night's rest
before each foray into rudeness... After all, each of these factors
bears on Acosta's ability to deliver his harangues effectively, and
to scrutinize the President and his administration in a suitably
public way. One wonders, in fact, whether Acosta and CNN are also
entitled to high ratings for their broadcasts of presidential
dressings-down? Could all Americans refusing to tune into CNN during
White House press conferences also be guilty of constitutional
violations? It's a question no American should dismiss lightly, given
the creativity of liberal lawyers.
The
truth, of course, is that, in a free country, every person is
entitled to free speech, but they are also able to decide for
themselves to whom they will speak. To put it in the starkest
possible terms: the Fifth Amendment states that even those accused of
a crime, even those self-evidently guilty of a crime, are not
required
to speak to the court that will hold them in judgment. And yet CNN
(and its media acolytes) asserts that the President of the United
States must,
according to the Constitution, submit to the disrespectful and
unprofessional “journalism” of Jim Acosta. Trump
must allow
Acosta to pontificate in the President's own house, and, presumably,
he must give answers that satisfy Acosta, who otherwise will feel
entitled to unlimited follow-ups, in pursuit of “the truth”.
The absurdity of CNN's position is transparent. CNN takes the view
that President Trump, in his capacity as President, has no rights at
all. He is merely a creature of the press. He is a punching bag, and
it is for the Fourth Estate to decide how hard and how often he will
be hit, and by whom. Ridiculous!
I encourage the White House in the strongest terms to fight CNN's
lawsuit, to stick to its guns and deny Jim Acosta renewed access to
the White House, and, in future, to issue clear and strict standards
that will govern the expectations for other reporters covering the
Trump administration.
The White House press corps is by no means required to support
President Trump or to ask him only softball questions, but it is, or
ought to be, required to show basic respect, decency, and
professionalism in its conduct. And, if the journalistic luminaries
in the White House Correspondents' Association don't like being held
to the same standard as any other guest in the White House would be,
well, they can vote for President Trump's opponent in the 2020
election.
Of course, they were already planning on doing that anyway, as we
all know.
Dr.
Nicholas L. Waddy is an Associate Professor of History at SUNY Alfred
and blogs at: www.waddyisright.com.
He appears weekly on the Newsmaker Show on WLEA 1480.
