Robert B. Reich's Blog, page 75

Six Reasons Why Trump’s Wall is Even Dumber Than Most of Trump’s Other Ideas

At his turbulent his news event last Wednesday (I won’t dignify it by calling it a news conference),...

Five Ways Trump’s “News Conference” Wasn’t a News Conference

Tyrants don’t allow open questioning, and they hate the free press.
They want total control. That’s...

The Two Resistances to Trump

It’s important to distinguish two lines of resistance to Trump:1. Resistance to Trump’s...

The Three Big Reasons Republicans Can’t Replace Obamacare

Republicans are preparing to repeal the Affordable Care Act, and have promised
to replace it with...

The First 100 Days Resistance AgendaTrump’s First 100 Day agenda...

The First 100 Days Resistance Agenda

Trump’s First 100 Day agenda includes repealing environmental regulations, Obamacare, and the Dodd-Frank Act, giving the rich and big corporations a huge tax cut, and putting in place a cabinet that doesn’t believe in the Voting Rights Act or public schools or Medicare or the Fair Housing Act. 

Our 100 days of resistance begins a sustained and powerful opposition. Here’s what you can do (it will take about an hour of your time each day):

1. Get your senators and representatives to pledge to oppose Trump’s agenda. Reject his nominees, prolong the process of approving them, draw out hearings on legislation. Call your senator and your representative and don’t stop calling.

2. March and demonstrate. The Women’s March on Washington will be the day after the Inauguration. There should be “sister” marches around the country. And then monthly marches against hate. Keep the momentum alive and keep the message going.

3. Make your city and state sanctuaries that won’t cooperate with federal immigration authorities in deporting undocumented immigrants, especially people who have been here since they were very young.

4. Boycott all Trump products, real estate, hotels, resorts, everything. And then boycott all stores (like Nordstrom) that carry merchandise from Trump family brands.

5. Write letters to the editor of your newspaper and op-eds, with a steady flow of arguments about the fallacies and dangers of Trump’s First 100 Day policies and initiatives.

6. Contribute to social media with up-to-date daily bulletins on what Trump is up to, and actions in your region in opposition.

7. Contribute to the most effective opposition groups. The American Civil Liberties Union, Common Cause, the Southern Poverty Law Center, the Economic Policy Institute, Inequality Media, MoveOn, and others.  

8. Make the resistance visible with bumper stickers, lapel pins, wrist bands.

9. Push progressive causes at your state and local level – environmental reform, progressive taxes, a higher minimum wage, ending gerrymandering, stopping mass incarceration. Make your state a model of what the federal government should do.

10. Start a move in your state to abolish the electoral college by committing your state’s electors to vote for the presidential candidate who wins the popular vote.

11. Reach out to independents and even Trump supporters who agree with this agenda, and get them involved.

12. Your idea goes here. Meet with family and friends this weekend, and decide what you’ll contribute.  

The First 100 Days Resistance Agenda. An hour a day. Send a powerful message. We aren’t going away.

Government by Tweedict

Trump’s tweets are a new form of governing by edict. They’re tweedicts. Incoming White House press...

The 15 Warnings Signs of Impending Tyranny

As tyrants take control of
democracies, they typically:1.  Exaggerate their mandate
to govern...

My New Year’s Wish for Donald Trump

Donald Trump issued the
following tweet on the last day of 2016: “Happy New Year to all, including...

My Wishes for Obama’s Parting Shots

President-elect Donald Trump is accusing President Obama of
putting up “roadblocks” to a smooth...

Trump’s Attack on the Freedom of the PressHistorically, tyrants...

Trump’s Attack on the Freedom of the Press

Historically, tyrants have tried to control the press using 4
techniques that, worryingly, Donald Trump is already using.

1. Berate the media and turn the public against it. Trump refers
to journalists as “dishonest,” “disgusting” and “scum.” When Trump lies – claiming, for example, “massive voter fraud” in
the election, and that he “won in a landslide” – and the media call him on
those lies, Trump claims the media is lying. Even televised satires he labels
“unfunny, one-sided, and pathetic.”

2. Limit media access. Trump hasn’t had a news conference since July. (His two predecessors had news conferences within days of being declared president.) He’s
blocked the media from traveling with him, and even from knowing with whom he’s
meeting. His phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, which occurred
shortly after the election, was first reported by the Kremlin.

3. Threaten the media. During the campaign, Trump threatened to
sue the New York Times for libel in response to an article about two women who
accused him of touching them inappropriately years ago, and then another that
revealed part of his 1995 tax returns. He says he plans to “open up our libel
laws so when they write purposely negative and horrible and false articles, we
can sue them and win lots of money.”

4. Bypass the media and communicate with the public
directly. Trump tweets incessantly, issues videos, and holds large rallies –
all of which further enable him to lie directly to the public with impunity.

The word “media” comes from “intermediate” between the powerful
and the public. The media hold the powerful accountable by correcting
their misstatements, asking them hard questions, and reporting on what they do.
Apparently Trump wants to eliminate such intermediaries.

Historically, these 4
techniques have been used by demagogues to erode the freedom and independence
of the press. Donald Trump seems intent on doing exactly this.