L'etat, C'est Moi--The Blinders
Apparently, Trump went full dictator this week, having his attorneys send a letter to Mueller essentially asserting that "if the President does it, it's not illegal." It's a bold gambit, since Nixon tried that and it was pretty conclusively decided that it isn't the way it works.
But Trump has an advantage that Nixon didn't. He has an entirely compliant media system. And no, I'm not talking about just Fox/Sinclair. Look at this line up. How many Dems were booked besides in a half-hearted attempt at "balance" on the panel? How about a woman? How about a person of color? Why are all the voices that we hear white conservative men?
The media has done more damage to this country by validating this president by framing the debate with no alternative voices than you can possibly imagine.
ABC's "This Week" — White House National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow. Tom Bossert, former Trump homeland security and counterterrorism adviser; Bill Richardson, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations; Sue Mi Terry, former CIA senior analyst; ABC News Chief Legal Analyst Dan Abrams; former Gov. Chris Christie, R-N.J. Panel: ABC’s Jonathan Karl; Republican strategist Sara Fagen; Democratic strategist Karen Finney; Patrick Gaspard, former Obama White House political affairs director; and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, author of the new book “Trump’s America.”
NBC's "Meet the Press" — Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau; Rudy Giuliani, President Donald Trump's personal lawyer. Ben Rhodes, former Obama deputy national security adviser. Panel: Joshua Johnson, host of NPR’s “1A”; Rich Lowry, editor of National Review; Peggy Noonan, columnist for The Wall Street Journal; and Katy Tur, NBC News correspondent.
CBS' "Face the Nation" — Gov. John Kasich, R-Ohio; Rep. Will Hurd, R-Texas. Jung Pak of the Brookings Institution’s Center for East Asia Policy Studies; Robert Gallucci, America's chief negotiator during the 1994 North Korean nuclear crisis. Panel: Susan Page of USA Today; Michael Crowley of Politico; David Nakamura of The Washington Post; and Ed O’Keefe of CBS.
CNN's "State of the Union" — Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif. Preet Bharara, former U.S. attorney. Panel: Karine Jean-Pierre, senior adviser for MoveOn.org; Linda Chavez, chair of the Center for Equal Opportunity and former Reagan administration official; Bakari Sellers, former Democratic South Carolina House member; and former Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa.
CNN's "Fareed Zakaria GPS" - Steve Bannon.
CNN's "Reliable Sources" - David Zurawik of The Baltimore Sun; Olivia Nuzzi of New York magazine; and Matt Lewis of The Daily Beast; Frank Rich, executive producer of HBO’s “Succession” and writer at large at New York magazine; and Julia Ioffe, contributing writer at The Atlantic.
"Fox News Sunday" — Kudlow; Corey Lewandowski, a former Donald Trump campaign manager. Panel: Brit Hume and Juan Williams of Fox News, Guy Benson of Townhall.com and Marie Harf, former State Department spokesperson
So, what's catching your eye this morning?
