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April Ryan, of American Urban Radio Networks, raises her hand to ask a question of White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders during a press briefing at the White House

Conservatives who should be appalled by President Donald Trumps anti-media attacks have responded instead with a collective shrug.

Never mind that Trump has taken steps to block publication of a critical book, assures a typical Wall Street Journal editorialhe would never follow through, and the courts would never go along. The Journal likewise brushes off Trumps threat to open up the libel laws as familiar and feckless bluster. Trump may brand journalists the enemy of the American people and hand out fake news awards, goes the argument from the right, but his actions matter more than his words.

This sanguine take on Trumps campaign to demonize the news media overlooks the real-world damage it inflicts on journalists, both at home and abroad. Trumps words and actions have materially chilled speechin the U.S., where 78 journalists were attacked or arrested last year, and around the world, 262 journalists are in prison, 21 of them for publishing fake news. The toxic fallout includes death threats, anti-Semitic media harassment, physical attacks, and GOP governors who deny interviews. (One politician paid more than $5,000 in fines and restitution after body-slamming a reporter.)

American journalists on a recent panel co-hosted by the Newseum and the Committee to Protect Journalists described struggling to do their work in an unprecedented atmosphere of hostility, suspicion, stonewalling, and even fear. Death threats are routine. The FBI is on speed dial. So is the Secret Service, and the local police department, said panelist April Ryan, White House correspondent for American Urban Radio Networks, who has publicly tangled with Trump.

Foreign journalists are paying an even bigger price, prompting some conservatives to finally speak up. Trumps unrelenting attacks on the integrity of American journalists and news outlets have provided cover for repressive regimes to follow suit, wrote GOP Senator John McCain, of Arizona, in a recent Washington Post op-ed. McCain cited journalists arrested and systematically discredited in China, Egypt, Russia, Turkey, Venezuela, and elsewhere.

His fellow Arizona Republican, Senator Jeff Flake, noted in a Senate floor speech that such despots as Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte have used the words fake news to justify their human rights abuses. Trumps use of Josef Stalins phrase enemy of the people to describe journalists is a testament to the condition of our democracy, said Flake, who added that of course, the president has it precisely backwarddespotism is the enemy of the people. The free press is the despot's enemy, which makes the free press the guardian of democracy.

Conservatives blithe dismissal of Trumps chilling impact is all the more striking given the First Amendments increasingly central place in conservative orthodoxy. The conviction, however unfounded, that campaign-finance limits would lead to book banning was at the heart of the Supreme Courts Citizens United ruling to deregulate corporate political spending. Since Hillary Clinton opposed that ruling, conservatives argue, she posed a greater First Amendment threat than Trump. Besides, they assure, Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch will rigorously defend free speech.

But not all First Amendment defenders take Trumps media wars so lightly. None other than constitutional law expert Floyd Abrams, who led the GOPs charge to deregulate politics in the name of free speech in Citizens United, warned The Wall Street Journal in a letter that its editorial board is far too serene about Trumps bid to silence author Michael Wolff. Trumps threats have led to actual lawsuits, Abrams wrote, and not all publications and journalists can so easily shrug off such threats of financially crippling litigation.

In an interview, Abrams acknowledged that Trump would find it hard to expand libel laws, which now fall largely under state jurisdiction. But he warned that there is no guarantee that an extraordinary event, such as a terrorist attack, might not prompt Trump to push hard to federalize libel laws. Abrams said hes hopeful that Gorsuch will rigorously defend the First Amendment, but that no one knows how he might rule in a case that, say, pitted national security against free speech concerns. Trump has so far been unable to stifle speech of which he disapproves noted Abrams, but the unending drumbeat of criticism, accusation, and denigration of the press takes a toll.

Indeed, Trumps assault on free speech is far more direct, aggressive, and broadly destructive than anything yet seen in the United States. Hes threatened legal action to silence critics; called for news organizations to fire specific journalists; tweeted videos and images of himself inflicting bloody violence on figures bearing the logo of CNN, a favorite target; and has weaponized mainstream media outlets as fake news.

The news media, from cable channels dominated by shouting matches to news outlets that fail to check their facts, do share some of the blame for this mess. Only 33 percent of Americans have a very favorable or somewhat favorable opinion of the news media, noted a report from Gallup and the Knight Foundation, and 66 percent say the media are bad at separating fact from opinion. Such surveys reflect a larger news industry crisis in confidence, and come amid soul-searching forums like the one at the Newseum, and another this week at The Washington Post.

And progressives, too, have failed to consistently defend free speech. Campus political protests, while often overblown and even egged on by conservative provocateurs, have raised legitimate First Amendment concerns. Anti-fa activists have resorted to violence. President Barack Obama kept a tight rein on information, was not transparent, and aggressively prosecuted whistleblowers, according to Reporters Without Borders.

But Trumps assault on free speech goes far deeper, advancing a Soviet-style disinformation campaign that helps fuel what a recent Rand Corporation report dubbed Truth Decay. Trump treats facts as irrelevant and fungible, having made 2,140 false or misleading claims in his first year. Yet heightened disagreement about facts and how to interpret data, Rands report warns, contributes to government dysfunction, hurts diplomacy and economic investments, and poses a threat to the health and future of U.S. democracy.

And Trump may be gearing up to go further, materially weakening media protections in the U.S. Last year, 34 American journalists were arrested, many when they were covering protests, and one photojournalist went to trial (and was acquitted) for a felony offense. American journalists still enjoy far greater institutional protections than journalists in, say, Turkey, where 73 journalists are now imprisoned, notes Alexandra Ellerbeck, North American program coordinator at the Committee to Protect Journalists.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions has signaled plans to revise Obama administration media guidelines, making it easier for the Trump administration to subpoena reporters. Obama prosecuted eight leakers under the Espionage Act, according to CPJ, but the Trump administration has 27 leak investigations open. Any move that makes it harder for journalists to protect their sources is a fundamental and basic assault on information gathering and news reporting, warns Ellerbeck.

None of this seems to worry supposed First Amendment champions on the right. With a few exceptions, such as Flake and McCain, conservatives take Trumps assaults on free speech merrily in stride. As GOP election lawyer Jim Bopp recently assured the Center for Public Integrity:

Liberals refuse to understand with Trump that you cant take what he says literally. What is important about Trump is what hes doing and not what hes saying, and in practice, everything hes done is in step with maintaining a First Amendment-friendly approach to campaign finance.

Bopps comments shed light on the real reason Republicans dont really care whether Trump trashes press freedoms. For many on the right, the First Amendment is less important as a tool to protect speech than to protect money, and those who spend it. As ethics attorney Kathleen Clark, who teaches law at Washington University in St. Louis, puts it: Economic power, and the ability to exploit economic power, is at the center of their vision of the First Amendment.

Its not the only way that Republicans have swept aside Trumps threats to democracy, national security and the rule of law. If they just change the subject to Hillary Clinton or Neil Gorsuch, Republicans seem to think, all will be well. Nor is it the first time the GOP has elevated partisan politics above long-cherished principles. But given how highly conservatives purport to prize the First Amendment, its remarkable how casually theyve abandoned it.

This article has been updated.

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What First Amendment? - prospect.org

ANKARA/BEIRUT (Reuters) - President Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday Turkey would extend its military operation in Syria to the town of Manbij, a move that could potentially bring Turkish forces into confrontation with those of their NATO ally the United States.

Turkeys air and ground Operation Olive Branch in the Afrin region of northern Syria is now in its fifth day, targeting Kurdish YPG fighters and opening a new front in Syrias multi-sided civil war.

A push towards Manbij, in a separate Kurdish-held enclave some 100 km (60 miles) east of Afrin, could threaten U.S. plans to stabilize a swath of northeast Syria.

The United States has around 2,000 special forces troops in Syria, officially as part of an international U.S.-led coalition, assisting the Kurds in battle against Islamic State.

None of the Americans are known to be based in the Afrin area, but they are deployed in the Kurdish-held pocket that includes Manbij. Washington has angered Turkey by providing arms, training and air support to the Syrian Kurdish forces, which Turkey considers enemies.

With the Olive Branch operation, we have once again thwarted the game of those sneaky forces whose interests in the region are different, Erdogan said in a speech to provincial leaders in Ankara.

Starting in Manbij, we will continue to thwart their game.

Differences over Syria policy have already strained Turkeys relations with Washington almost to a breaking point. For the United States, the YPG is a key ally against both Islamic State jihadists and Syrian President Bashar al-Assads forces.

A Turkish operation in Manbij would be fraught with risk due to the presence of the U.S. military personnel in and around the town. They were deployed there last March to deter Turkish and U.S.-backed rebels from attacking each other and have also carried out training missions in Manbij.

President Donald Trump plans to raise the U.S. concerns over the Turkish offensive in a telephone call with Erdogan expected on Wednesday, a senior U.S. official said.

In an interview with Reuters, Turkeys government spokesman said he saw a small possibility that Turkish forces could come face-to-face with the U.S. troops in Manbij.

U.S.-backed Syrian fighters in the Manbij area have deployed to frontlines to confront any Turkish assault and are in contact with the U.S.-led coalition over defending the town, their spokesman Sharfan Darwish said on Wednesday.

We are in full readiness to respond to any attack.

Rockets fired from Afrin struck the Turkish border town of Kilis, killing two people, a Syrian and a Turk, and wounding 11 people in the area, the local governors office said, the latest in what has been a series of such attacks since the start of the operation.

One of the rockets hit a mosque and the two people who were killed were praying at the time, the statement said.

Dozens of combatants have been killed since Turkey launched its offensive, said the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the conflict in Syria.

Turkish shelling and airstrikes in Afrin have killed 28 civilians, while two civilians were killed as a result of YPG shelling near Azaz, a town held by Turkish-backed opponents of President Bashar al-Assad, the monitoring group said.

Turkey said three of its soldiers had been killed. Observatory head Rami Abdulrahman said 48 Turkey-backed Syrian fighters with Free Syrian Army groups had been killed and that the death toll among the Kurdish YPG so far stood at 42.

The Turkish military said it had killed at least 287 Kurdish fighters and Islamic State militants in the offensive. The U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) umbrella group led by the Kurdish YPG said there was no Islamic State presence in Afrin and Turkey had exaggerated the number of dead.

Communication between the United States and Turkey has continued over Syria, despite the countries differences.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said he spoke to U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who, he said, had suggested the formation of a 30 km security line inside Syria, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported.

Turkey has previously sought such buffer zones in parts of Syria near its southern border.

A senior U.S. official said that as of Tuesday the Turks had not been ready to engage in detail on such a proposal.

Bad weather, including heavy rain, has hampered Turkeys offensive. Heavy clouds have hindered air support, limiting advances, and Kurdish militia have retaken some territory.

Turkish troops and allied Syrian fighters have been trying to take the summit of Bursaya Hill, overlooking the eastern approach to Afrin town.

Turkey has not been able yet to shore up its control over any of the villages it has advanced on, said the Observatorys Abdulrahman. He attributed this to fierce resistance from YPG fighters who are from Afrin, and the hilly terrain of the area.

Afrin is separated from Manbij and the rest of the territory held by the Kurdish-led forces by a strip of land held by Assads government forces.

In 2016, the Kurdish-led SDF pushed Islamic State fighters out of Manbij. Erdogan has accused the United States of reneging on a promise to ensure that Kurdish fighters would return the town to Arab control.

U.S., British and German volunteers who fought against Islamic State alongside Kurdish-led forces in Syria are also now in the Afrin area to help confront Turkey, the SDF said.

U.S. Defence Secretary Jim Mattis has said Turkeys offensive is distracting from efforts to defeat Islamic State.

The United States has hoped to use the YPGs control of territory to give it the diplomatic muscle it needs to revive U.N.-led talks in Geneva on a deal that would end Syrias civil war and eventually lead to Assads removal.

Additional reporting by Orhan Coskun, Ercan Gurses Ece Toksabay and Dominic Evans in Ankara; Daren Butler, Ezgi Erkoyun and Ali Kucukgocmen in Istanbul; Writing by David Dolan; Editing by Gareth Jones and Peter Graff

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Erdogan says to extend Syria operation despite risk of U.S ...

President Donald Trump warned Turkey against expanding its military offensive against U.S.-backed Kurdish fighters in northern Syria, telling President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that such action could lead to direct conflict with U.S. forces, the White House said.

Trump urged Turkey to deescalate, limit its military actions, and avoid civilian casualties and increases to displaced persons and refugees, the White House said Wednesday in a readout of Trumps call with Erdogan. He urged Turkey to exercise caution and to avoid any actions that might risk conflict between Turkish and American forces.

Turkey said the readout did not accurately reflect the content of the call and that Trump didnt share concerns over the violence.

Turkish forces wait near the Syrian border at Hassa, in Hatay province on Jan. 24.

Photographer: Ozan Kose/AFP via Getty Images

The White Houses harshly worded statement signaled the growing impatience with moves by Erdogan to crack down on Kurdish fighters who are supported by the U.S. but regarded by Turkey as terrorists. Trump also rebuked Erdogan over recent criticism of the U.S. The Turkish leader has publicly accused America of supporting terrorists by backing Kurdish fighters.

The president expressed concern about destructive and false rhetoric coming from Turkey, and about United States citizens and local employees detained under the prolonged State of Emergency in Turkey, the White House said.

Longstanding frictions between the NATO allies over Washingtons backing of Syrian Kurdish fighters escalated on Sunday when Ankara, in defiance of the U.S., sent tanks and warplanes across the border into the Afrin region, to chase the Kurdish forces from a border enclave they control.

Its trigger was a plan by the U.S.-led coalition against Islamic State to set up a new armed force in an area of northeast Syria near Turkeys border, controlled by Kurdish fighters who are working with American troops. Erdogan condemned a statement by one U.S. military official that a border security force was being established, and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson disowned that description.

The U.S. statement comes after Erdogan vowed to extend Turkeys offensive in northern Syria to another town, Manbij, where U.S. troops are embedded with local Kurdish fighters. When Erdogan sent his army into Afrin, Russian forces in that area pulled out, clearing the way for the Turkish advance. The White House statement suggests that U.S. soldiers may not do the same -- raising the prospect of a direct clash between the NATO armies, unless Erdogan backs down.

The Turkish presidency said Trump only touched upon the necessity of limiting the duration of the offensive keeping in mind the presence of a small number of U.S. troops in Manbij, the need to prevent a hot conflict in the area.

Syrian Kurds were the main ground force in the U.S. campaign to rout Islamic State, but Turkey regards them as an affiliate of a separatist group with designs on its territory. The dispute has pushed NATO member Turkey into alliance with Russia and Iran, as the three countries collaborate to impose a Syrian peace plan.

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Trump Slams Erdogan Over Syria But Turkey Disputes Account ...

A culture war over immigration replays the racialized debate that dominated the 2016 presidential campaign. As much as it saddens me to say it, the evidence is pretty clear that a racialized debate helps Trump. Its the kind of debate that will make it harder for Democrats to retake the Senate and House this year.

Multiple studies have found that the political views of white Americans drift to the right when they are reminded that the countrys population is slowly becoming less white. And many of these voters are winnable for Democrats. A good number, remember, voted for Barack Obama. They may have some racist views many people do but theyre neither deplorable nor irredeemable human beings. Steve Bannon, the guru of white nationalism, understood this dynamic, once saying, The Democrats, the longer they talk about identity politics, I got em.

Similarly, some innovative polling by YouGov has found that a large portion of white Americans see prohibiting discrimination against women and minorities as one of the Democratic Partys top priorities. Unfortunately, few white Americans who arent already loyal Democrats say the same issue is one of their own priorities. Theyre more worried about their own struggles, many of which are economic. Its a political liability for Democrats, Doug Rivers, YouGovs chief scientist told me, in the same way being the party of the rich is a problem for Republicans.

I know that many progressives are sick of hearing about white voters, but its extremely hard to succeed in American politics without winning a good portion of them. About 69 percent of eligible voters are non-Hispanic whites. They have outsize power too, thanks to a combination of their turnout rates, their geographic dispersion, gerrymandering and the Senates small-state bonus.

Briahna Joy Gray wrote a must-read essay on this topic for New York magazine, titled, Racism May Have Gotten Us Into This Mess, but Identity Politics Cant Get Us Out. Or as Matthew Yglesias wrote in Vox last week, If you want to help the people most severely victimized by Trumpism, you need to beat Trumpism at the polls.

The best debate for Democrats is one that keeps reminding white working-class voters that theyre working class. Its a debate about Medicare, Medicaid, taxes or Wall Street. The worst debate is one that keeps reminding those voters that theyre white.

To put it another way, if youre a Democrat whos frustrated that Republicans have managed to turn the shutdown into a fight over immigration, ask yourself: Why would they do that?

Democratic leaders are certainly right to insist on protection for the Dreamers. The question is whether the best way to protect them, and the best way to elect politicians who will help them in the long term involves keeping immigration policy in the political spotlight for weeks on end.

The smart move now for Democrats is to accept a short-term funding bill that ends the shutdown and defuses the tension. Republican leaders are open to that solution, because they have their own vulnerabilities. Their party is the majority party, which is often blamed for dysfunction.

That solution feels a bit unsatisfying, I know. But tactical retreats can lead to big victories in the future.

Read more here:
The Democrats Are Right and Should Settle

As the government shutdown inches closer and closer, lawmakers are busy pointing fingers at who's to blame for the impasse. (Jenny Starrs/The Washington Post)

By a 20-point margin, more Americans blame President Trump and Republicans rather than Democrats for a potential government shutdown, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.

A 48 percent plurality says Trump and congressional Republicans are mainly responsible for the situation resulting from disagreements over immigration laws and border security, while 28 percent fault Democrats. A sizable 18 percent volunteer that both parties are equally responsible. Political independents drive the lopsided margin of blame, saying by 46 to 25 percent margin that Republicans and Trump are responsible for the situation.

[Read full poll results | How the poll was conducted]

The poll was conducted Monday to Thursday, largely before House Republicans passage of a short-term funding bill Thursday aimed at averting a shutdown starting midnight Friday and putting pressure on Democrats and the Senate to avert a shutdown.

[Government shutdown looms as Senate Democrats dig in against GOP spending plan]

Democrats railed against the House bill for not offering protections for young undocumented immigrants brought to the country as children as well as other issues, and are planning to block the measure if it is brought to the Senate floor.

The Post-ABC poll finds Democrats are more united in blaming Republicans for the situation than vice versa. A 78 percent majority of Democrats say Trump and congressional Republicans are mainly responsible for the potential government shutdown, while a smaller 66 percent of Republicans blame Democrats in Congress. One in seven Republicans, 14 percent, say Trump and Republicans are to blame.

Public opinion ahead of Fridays deadline is similar to attitudes at the end of the 2013 government shutdown. A Post-ABC poll after it ended found 53 percent of Americans said Republicans were mainly responsible for the shutdown, compared with 29 percent who blamed President Obama. The 24 percentage-point margin of greater blame for Republicans then is slightly larger than the 20-point blame margin for Trump and Republicans in the new poll.

The new poll finds Hispanic adults say by a roughly 3 to 1 margin that Republicans are mainly responsible for a potential government shutdown, with 60 percent blaming Trump and Republicans while 19 percent blame Democrats. Similarly, 61 percent of adults under age 30 say Trump and Republicans are mainly responsible for the situation, higher than other age groups.

The Post-ABC poll was conducted Jan. 15-18, 2018 among a random sample of 1,005 adults reached on cell and landline phones with a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.

Emily Guskin contributed to this report.

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More Americans blame Republicans than Democrats for potential ...