The Saints upset the Ravens on the road and open a tough beginning with a 1-0 record. Many accepted the reality that the Saints could easily open the season 0-2 and still be on the road to a good season. So there is a lot to be excited about with the Saints preparing for their home opener this Sunday afternoon against the Las Vegas Raiders.
The City Council has given Mayor Moreno the power she needs to move forward with plans to rejuvenate West End into a social and party destination. Crime is down in New Orleans and this seems to be a legitimate trend. There are huge job-generating projects coming to Louisiana - including Space X - where rockets will be launched on a regular basis.
There are a lot of positive local things to talk about - but when a national issue is so serious that it has a negative impact on every part of America - including our local area - then that national issue becomes a local issue.
National issues that inform the local audience about voting should be considered local issues. I mention this because one of the failed attempts by social media trolls to defend the president is the idea that I should be “talking about local issues.” Many national issues are local issues because of their importance to the local community.
President Trump announcing that CNN, MS NOW, and Politico are immediately banned from the White House is a threat to freedom of the press and that is a local issue.
In his spontaneous wisdom - President Trump did not think before emotionally reacting to some media outlets being critical of his administration. This is not new. Tell me a time when there were not media outlets that were critical of a president? When President Obama was in office - Fox News spent every day of Obama’s two terms in office looking for anything they could find negative to report on his administration. For a brief period in 2009 - there was a public battle between Obama and Fox News and when Obama banned Fox News from an interview that was opened to the media pool - CNN, NBC, ABC, and CBS banned together and stood with Fox News and told Obama that if Fox News was not allowed then none of their reporters would cover the interview. Within hours - the Obama Administration reversed its ban and allowed Fox News to cover the story.
As the ban against CNN, MS Now, and Politico was announced - Fox News, ABC, CBS, and NBC all pulled their cameras and microphones from the media pool at the White House. Today - President Trump was a victim of his own flawed decision to ban those media outlets that reported opinions the president disagreed with. During a press conference on the new helipad - something Trump was showing off and quite proud of - Trump was talking but no one could hear what he was saying because the usual media pool microphone had been pulled from covering the event. The network cameras were pulled as well. So there was the president talking and no one could hear anything he was saying. This president is known to throw temper tantrums like a 12-year-old teenage girl and one can only imagine what he said after he saw the video of him speaking and none of his words could be heard. I hope no one was hurt or hit with any flying objects.
Some Republicans fell all over themselves trying to support President Trump’s banning of those particular media outlets, like Congressman Steve Scalise (LA). Scalise made a fool of himself when he appeared on ABC’s This Week. In his defense of the president - Scalise passionately argued that President Biden banned 400 journalists from the White House when he was president. That was a lie. The Biden White House decided to change some of the requirements to gain credentials to the White House and of the over 1,000 journalists - 400 decided not to reapply. They didn’t reapply - Biden did not take away their credentials. That was a lie used to defend President Trump.
VP JD Vance said: (pay attention to this brilliant wordsmithing) President Trump is “not banning media outlets.” “What he’s doing is saying ‘We’re not gonna give you special access to the White House if you engage in what is effectively propaganda.’” Trump, himself, said that he was banning the media outlets because they are not always reporting favorably about his administration. I would agree that any media personnel pushing propaganda should not be allowed to cover the White House - but the media Trump was banning was not promoting propaganda - they were simply reporting the truth that the president didn’t like because it shed a negative light on his presidency. It’s the media’s job to report on the facts with the freedom to come to a conclusion that differs from the president.
Many Republicans are showing the courage to break with President Trump on the banning of certain media outlets - but Congressman Scalise and the right-wing media echo chamber continue to make up or twist whatever truth they can find to defend Trump.
Reaction on my talk show on WWL and reaction on SOTA FaceBook, InstaGram, and Substack continues to trend in the direction of open frustration from Republicans who can no longer support this president. And as the midterm elections approach - this cannot be good news for Trump. And Trump’s approval rating in the latest polls has dropped below 30% - which is reaching the level of embarrassment.
We should all be concerned about what this wounded animal might do when he realizes that he has single-handedly backed himself into a corner. How desperate will he become?
This president thrives on the quest for power and money and shows little regard for the American people. He will find more ways to rake in money for himself and his family - but when he realizes his powers are being limited and he may face severe consequences for his behavior and decisions as president - let’s see what happens then.
President Trump may have reached the tipping point with his random decision to ban certain media outlets from the White House. I wouldn’t be surprised if he finds a way to change his mind and blame the mistake on the Democrats or anyone other than the person really responsible - himself.
