Donald Trump Is No Free Speech Warrior
Plus: Trump vs. the Inspectors General
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CATHY YOUNG: Donald Trump Is No Warrior for Free Speech
OVER THE COURSE OF DONALD TRUMP’S re-election campaign, he cast himself as a warrior for free speech—so no surprise that among the first executive orders of his second term was one titled “Restoring Freedom of Speech and Ending Federal Censorship.” Its preamble slams the Biden administration for supposedly having “censor[ed] Americans’ speech on online platforms.” It asserts that “government censorship of speech is intolerable in a free society” and proclaims its intent to “secure the right of the American people to engage in constitutionally protected speech” free from interference by federal employees or federal programs.
The executive order has drawn praise not only from Trump cultists but from some outside the MAGA camp, including NetChoice, a trade organization that represents Amazon, Google, Meta, and other major tech companies. Reason’s Robby Soave has chided disinformation experts critical of the order. And Martin Gurri, writing in the Free Press, casts the executive order as a “good beginning” to a monumental task: “the resumption of the great American debate, of speech that is unencumbered and unafraid, of a Jeffersonian open society” after four years of being stifled by “the Biden cabal.”
🎥 PODCASTS AND VIDEOS 🎧
Bulwark Podcast with Tim Miller: Andrew Weissmann: A MAGAtocracy and a Babytocracy [YouTube]
The Secret Podcast: Anatomy of a Scapegoating🔐
Bulwark+ Live:
Across the Movie Aisle: Steven Soderbergh Draft!
George Conway Explains it All (to Sarah Longwell): Trump’s Administration Is a Incompetent Mess [YouTube]
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KIM WEHLE: Trump vs. the Inspectors General
HERE AND THERE AMONG THE DEMORALIZING and disturbing reports about Donald Trump’s rapid-fire assault on democratic institutions, there are stories of courage, of resistance, of people standing up for the rule of law and the Constitution.
There are the federal employees who have taken to Reddit to give confidence to one another to stand up to Trump’s depredations.
There is the employment official at USAID who reportedly refused to carry out unlawful firings and so was placed on administrative leave.
🚨OVERTIME🚨
Happy Friday! We made it! But it is turning out to be a very dour Friday, indeed.
“All hail the Drizz?”… The acting FBI director, sources say, is rejecting calls to mass fire those involved with the J6 insurrection. The purge also reportedly extends to those who were promoted by Christopher Wray. Alas, perhaps the hailing of the Drizz by social media came too soon, as part of the purge happened anyway.
Egg watch… It’s a “temporary disruption” and “people will understand that”, Trump says.
Federal Webpages Go Dark… as Trump Administration Removes Public Data (TIME)
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker blocks… Jan. 6 rioters from state jobs after Trump pardons (NBC)
Dafuq? CBS News statement: “Late Wednesday, CBS News was sent a Letter of Inquiry from the FCC asking for the full, unedited transcript & camera feeds from our interview with VP Harris which aired on Oct. 7. We are working to comply with that inquiry as we are legally compelled to do.”
‘Mass Murderer in Waiting’: Writer Accuses LA Times of Editing His Anti-RFK Op-Ed to Support Conspiracy Theorist (Mediaite)
Red America vs. Blue America: Working on ourselves in order to improve democracy (Connors)
The End of North America… Trump pulls the trigger on tariffs (Paul Krugman)
Will Justice Thomas return the favor? Mark Paoletta’s funding freeze fiasco has “led to discussion about reassigning [him]” (ABC)
FBI agents who worked on January 6 and Trump investigations… are expected to be fired Friday. (CNN)
Looks like that “third term” bill paid off! “Career prosecutors withdraw from federal criminal investigation of GOP Congressman Andy Ogles” (NewsChannel 5 Nashville)
Musk aides lock government workers out… of computer systems at US agency, sources say (Reuters)
Military Helo Pilot… Gives Possible Cause for DCA Midair Collision (Ward Carroll)
WSJ Ed Page Mad: Dumbest trade war in history. If only somebody had warned those folks!
From my Cincinnati neighborhood… To a Super Bowl commercial!
2025 College Football Playoff National Championship Film
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