Which Version of the News Do You Follow?

After feeling a bit low because of all the bad news in the paper first thing in the morning, I thought I would write down all the things that I came across in one morning in my news feed where President Trump did something that appeared to be illegal, harmful, or both. This was in hopes that I would be wrong, and the time spent would be cathartic. I picked Tuesday, August 19th for this exercise. The news is generally a recap of what happened the day prior, although some items were discussions of things that had happened earlier. In any event, these items were all represented by stories that morning.

This is my setup reading the news on my computer in the morning while looking up every so often when a neighborhood cardinal lands on the deck, or a fox wanders by. Note that I have my bird watching camera handy just is case, and on the mug is a photo that I took in Chile of two penguins. (They are on the back from this angle, so you will have to just trust me about it.)

My news feed typically includes the Washington Post, the New York Times, and The Guardian, (all with paid subscriptions), and occasionally Al Jazeera, Ground News (I donated to them), and a daily news email summary by John Ellis, former VP at CBS (he charges a nominal fee). Additionally, Google News provides me with a smorgasbord of other publications whose stories I might be interested in, for example, the BBC, CNN, Yahoo News, the NY Post, Fox News, the Washington Times (these last 3 are conservative), Reuters, Patch (local issues), ABC News, the UK Register, stories about photography, travel, air carriers, cruises and cruise lines, health and the health industry, music news especially about musicians from the 60s and 70s, and it goes on and on. I do look at Facebook but not for the news. I get up around 6am, and trust me, it takes more than one cup of coffee to get through it all.

For this essay I also watched Fox & Friends aka F&F (the entire 7-9am time slot), which is not normally part of my routine morning new feed but which I consult occasionally to see what they are saying. Where they addressed the same stories, I provide their insights below. F&F spent most of the 2 hours on the first story below, including a long phone call with President Trump. The first of my listings below turned out to be the only story that the “Friends” mentioned that showed up in the non-Fox news.

A key takeaway from this exercise was that conservative media simply leaves out nearly all the stories that might make President Trump look bad. So if these sources are your input for current events, you will be missing a lot.

They are in the order I read them, which has no significance really. Here goes, starting with the action by the Trump administration and then my discussion :

Action #1: Trump met in Alaska last Friday with Putin to bring a peaceful resolution to the Russia/Ukraine war, and then followed on Monday in the Oval Office with a meeting with selected European Heads of State.

Why I listed it: Reminiscent of Neville Chamberlain (look it up if you don’t know who I am talking about), the Alaska meeting is another attempt by our President to end the war by ceding it to Russia. Ukraine was not involved in the meeting with Putin, so it could not possibly have brought peace. Doing it in Alaska — on US soil — gives Putin major validation points back home.

Fox coverage: Major progress towards peace was made! A lot of talk recapitulating what Trump said, which is that this was historic! All the world leaders were grateful to Trump. “We saw the undisputed global leader [meaning Trump], sitting down with the prominent leaders in Europe.” The Fox commentator kept coming back to the image of Trump sitting behind the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office with European leaders arrayed at his feet. The Fox Friends got Trump on the phone and asked him “How the heck did you do such a wonderful job of leading the world?” Trump took false credit on the air for ending seven prior wars, falsely blamed Joe Biden and Obama for starting the war, and so on. For two hours it was nearly the only news story.

Two heads of state meeting last Friday in Alaska. Trump literally rolled out a red carpet. Also note that in this picture (taken by a Sky News photographer), Trump’s body language appears to show that he has perhaps bitten off more than he could chew. It’s a metaphor. I love the way the two people in the foreground “pop’ against the blurred background; this is called ‘bokeh’ by photographers, and the iPhone will do this for you if you turn on portrait mode.

Action#2: Trump named Andrew Bailey to be FBI co-director, along with Dan Bongino.

Why I listed it: Bailey is a Republican Trump supporter, extreme conservative, and current Attorney General of Missouri. Therefore, the FBI leadership team is likely to continue doing whatever Trump tells them to do in preference to enforcing Federal law.

Action#3: 6,000 student visas were revoked, with the administration claiming that the students were all terrorists and criminals.

Why I listed it: The claim that these are criminals is highly unlikely. Trump appears to be on a rampage against people in the US that were born elsewhere (except for his wife and immediate family), with this being one more notch in his gun. This might or might not be legal, but it is hurtful to the students, to the school, to their families, and long term to the country when we cannot attract smart people to come study and live here. Was Einstein born here? No. Alexander Hamilton? No. Robert Goddard? No. Dave Matthews? No. Bruce Willis? No. Bob Hope? No. I think you get the idea.

Action#4: Deployed National Guard troops to suppress ‘rampant crime’ in D.C.

Why I listed it: The deployment is based on Trump’s claim that D.C. is a cesspool of violent crime that can be fixed quickly by way of an occupying army. Which is not true. Whether the deployment is legal is a gray area, and would take many years to untangle in court. Crime trends are down in D.C. in the last two years, but Republicans in Congress recently pulled funding for police support and other related municipal improvement activities, while at the same time blaming Democrats for making the city a so-called criminal haven. Meanwhile, masked and machine-gun armed Federal soldiers are terrorizing the residents and abducting random people whose skin is dark but who do not have any criminal history.

This shows the top ten cities by 2024 murder rate in the US; Washington DC is not on the list (FBI data shows it to be in 19th place). People who live there say that crime is concentrated in certain neighborhoods, which aren’t where tourists typically spend time, nor where Trump’s soldiers are.

Action#5: Trump imposed sanctions on Brazil and revoked Brazilian judge Alexandre DeMoraes’ US visa.

Why I listed it: This one is a bit complicated. Former Brazilian President Bolsonaro attempted a coup after he lost the last election, and was arrested by the Brazilian authorities for fomenting an insurrection. Sound familiar? It did to Trump, who has been punishing the country of Brazil ever since with high tariffs. When Bolsonaro violated his bail agreement, Brazilian judge Moraes threw his ass into Brazilian jail right away. Trump was indignant, and has been attempting to punish Moraes personally. Trump is punishing the entire country of Brazil (and Americans when we drink coffee) because he has sympathy for a foreign criminal.

Action#6: Trump directed US immigration authorities to use ‘moral character’ as a criteria for approving immigrants who are applying for citizenship.

Why I listed it: This policy is subjective and thus invites abuse, and not needed for any other reason. A criminal history is already one of the criteria considered when applying for US citizenship, although the nature of the crime is taken into account. While not overtly illegal, this policy change is part of Trump’s campaign to prevent people from other countries from coming here even though they may be complying with US law. Recall that in January 2024 he killed a bi-partisan immigration reform bill that had the potential to significantly mitigate the illegal immigration problem, thus further degrading the Government’s ability to process and deal with immigrants.

Action#7: Epstein friendship scandal.

Why I listed it: Trump was good friends over decades with Jeffrey Epstein, who was later convicted of running a high-end prostitution and child sex trafficking ring. Epstein called Trump ‘his best friend.’ To me, this is not the most consequentially bad thing Trump has done, but may be among the easiest to understand. It has a high ‘ewww’ factor. While campaigning, Trump ran on a promise to get to the bottom of why Epstein died in jail. Did Trump break the law by conscripting underage girls to have sex with him, or help Epstein traffic young girls as sex slaves? We don’t know. And the Trump administration appears to be hiding the evidence, which makes Trump look guilty.

Little St James Island, just southeast of St Thomas, was purchased in 1998 by an LLC whose sole owner was Jeffery Epstein. This was a bargain! It is not clear how Epstein made his money, but he used the island for invitation-only parties where he did things that might have been illegal had they been in the US.

Action #8: Documents released yesterday indicate that Trump is implementing a policy to allow the executive branch to control Congressionally approved Federal spending.

Why I listed it: This policy is, on its face, in violation of the Constitution’s design of the separate authorities of the executive and Congress. The President is to ‘faithfully execute the laws passed by Congress’, not to subvert and second guess them. It’s in the Presidential Oath of Office. The founding fathers designed the Federal Government to separate the authority to spend Federal money from the authority to administer the resulting Congressionally required programs.

Here’s an extra credit question: If we aren’t going to follow the clear wording of our Constitution, but instead vest all Federal authority in a single all-powerful individual, what is the nature of our Government? And should we do it?

Action #9: Trump made remarks yesterday that he wants to bring “honesty to the mid-term elections” by eliminating mail-in voting.

Why I listed it: First of all, the President does not have the authority to do this. Per the US Constitution, states have the responsibility to run their own elections. Second, it is stupid. There is no evidence that mail-in ballots are more subject to fraud than in-person ones. Many active military personnel submit their votes via mail-in ballot; are they all committing voter fraud? Should we disenfranchise our soldiers stationed overseas?

Action #10: ICE detained an Afghan family attempting to cross into Canada for asylum.

Why I listed it: An Afghan family who worked for the US military in the Afghan war was attempting to transfer through the US to Canada where they had permission to obtain asylum, when ICE detained them and refused to release them to cross into Canada. I listed it because there is no reason for the US to hold onto them; they don’t want to be here, and we owe them for supporting our military in our war at great personal expense. The result will be that in the future, when we are involved in foreign wars, the local population will not help us, weakening our military and our national security. Trump told ICE to fulfill quotas that can only be achieved by detaining the innocent.

Action #11: Trump fired the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) because he disliked a recent report that the BLS issued.

Why I listed it: The firing was reminiscent of the Ministry of Truth (‘minitru’) in Orwell’s 1984. Look it up. Today’s news about it included several essays about the firing, including one from CNN discussing what happened in other countries when the head of state compromised the accuracy of government statistical reporting. It is double-plus ungood, you can be assured. The law (passed by Congress) enacting the BLS requires that it be independent of political interference, so the firing violates Federal law.

This is the routine revision to the monthly jobs report that got Erika McEntarfer fired by Donald Trump. These revisions happen every month because large companies have systems that report data quickly, while the many smaller business need more time to report. President Trump has evidently been trying find BLS staffer Winston Smith to reissue the report, but so far, no luck.

Action #12: Trump executive order 14253, “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History” resulted in the National Park Service asking visitors to report any signs that, in their opinions, say negative things about Americans or America’s natural beauty (see image below).

Why I listed it: A journalist in today’s news summarized national park visitors’ reactions to this policy. Nearly all thought it was bad – even shameful. This policy, while not illegal, appears to be requesting that we erase the history of events that Trump doesn’t like, such as how slavery was a thing, or that the trail of tears was a bad thing for the natives, or whatever.

I was in Glacier National Park in Montana a few years ago, and there were many signs indicating – with photographs – that the glaciers were melting. These signs clearly failed to emphasize the ‘beauty, grandeur, and abundance of landscapes.’ Fortunately, I was not asked at the time to report this fact so that it could be corrected by the Trump administration. Here are some fascinating before/after photos: https://tinyurl.com/2fyuw4he.

Action #13: A lawsuit was brought against the Federal Government for human rights abuse and illegal detention at ‘Alligator Alcatraz’.

Why I listed it: The ACLU brought a suit being heard this week in Florida Federal District Court that people detained at the so-called Alligator Alcatraz facility are being physically abused, and are being deported without their Constitutionally required deportation hearing in front of an independent judge. Interviews with detainees support the ACLU’s allegations. Violating the Constitution by simply kidnapping people and randomly sending them to other countries without even a hearing violates the Constitution, as well Federal law, which is what the people detained there say is going on. Is this really happening there? Think about it. It will take the wheels of justice some time to turn on the question; meanwhile, if true, the abuse continues.

Trump loves this camp.

Action #14: Foreign relations disruption by Trump has resulted in India and China forging new diplomatic and commercial bonds with each other.

Why I listed it: New Delhi’s foreign minister just announced that because of the disruption caused by US President Trump, the two countries are firming up their partnership with each other to the exclusion of the US. For India to re-align with China at our expense is not good. In the short term, China’s ability to trade with India will mitigate any potential value of our tariffs against them. In the long term, a military partnership between China and India would be difficult for us and could compromise national security.

Putin, Modi, and Xi, heads of Russia, India, and China met together in August in China in a show of friendship and cooperation. Apparently Modi was telling the US that he did not care about our tariffs, and could find other trading partners. Oops.

That was Tuesday morning August 19, all of it in my news feed about things that were reported that morning. I’m exhausted. Help me! More coffee, please!