# Senate: unanimous resolution that the press is not the enemy of the people **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 17, 2018, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-unanimous-resolution-that-the-press-is-not-the-enemy-of-the-people/819771 "2018-08-17T03:49:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2018, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-unanimous-resolution-that-the-press-is-not-the-enemy-of-the-people/819771/1 "2018-08-17T03:49:59Z")
Story on CBS News [here](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/senate-unanimously-passes-resolution-declaring-the-press-is-not-the-enemy-of-the-people/). > [@Senate resolution](#): > > Resolved, that the Senate affirms that the press is not the enemy of the people; reaffirms the vital and indispensable role that the free press serves to inform the electorate, uncover the truth, act as a check on the inherent power of the government, further national discourse and debate, and otherwise advance the most basic and cherished democratic norms and freedoms of the United States; and condemns the attacks on the institution of the free press and views efforts to systematically undermine the credibility of the press as an attack on the democratic institutions of the United States… Am I naïve to find this very encouraging? In addition to the 300 newspaper editorials today, the Senate passed this resolution unanimously. I hope it makes 45 re-think his strategy at least, and reminds Americans of the value of a free press. ---
**Author:** ![Chisquirrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6bbea6/32.png) [@Chisquirrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chisquirrel)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2018, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-unanimous-resolution-that-the-press-is-not-the-enemy-of-the-people/819771/2 "2018-08-17T07:21:29Z")
Also, water is wet, the sky is blue, and the Earth is an oblate spheroid. Until Senate Republicans provide actual consequences for the Shitgibbon instead of voicing mild disapproval at his choice of words, nothing will change. Did Dr. Frankenstein steal an extra spine they could pass around? ---
**Author:** ![Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/try2b_comprehensive/32/65_2.png) [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Try2B_Comprehensive)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2018, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-unanimous-resolution-that-the-press-is-not-the-enemy-of-the-people/819771/3 "2018-08-17T07:35:10Z")
I suppose either one of you could turn out to be right, we will have to wait. But I think today’s news could certainly have been Worse. They could have resolved That, “The press is the enemy of the people just like Trump says, and if we are ever gonna MAGA we better put a muzzle on that real quick. A Yuge muzzle, trust us.” Nope. They said Trump is wrong, and attacking democracy. They will impeach him, if only because he cannot heed warnings, read signs, change and humble himself before the awesome responsibility of his office. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2018, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-unanimous-resolution-that-the-press-is-not-the-enemy-of-the-people/819771/4 "2018-08-17T12:16:37Z")
No, you’re not naive. That story kicks ass. Sometimes in Trump’s America we have to have the grownups in authority spell out and publicly declare the basic truth. It is actually very important as a measure to defend against unchecked propaganda. Kudos to the Senate. And fuck Donald Trump. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2018, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-unanimous-resolution-that-the-press-is-not-the-enemy-of-the-people/819771/5 "2018-08-17T12:21:31Z")
I think it’s a positive gesture, but unfortunately dumb asses believe what they want to believe ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Fretful\_Porpentine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fretful_porpentine/32/2873_2.png) [@Fretful\_Porpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fretful_Porpentine)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2018, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-unanimous-resolution-that-the-press-is-not-the-enemy-of-the-people/819771/6 "2018-08-17T13:05:54Z")
I would like to see this as a positive sign, but I can’t help being cynical about the fact that it’s happening just as primary season is almost over (I believe the only state with an incumbent Republican senator that hasn’t yet held its primary is Wyoming). OTOH, maybe it doesn’t matter if the cynical interpretation is correct; as long as they DO feel emboldened to criticize Trump, I’m not sure I care all that much about why. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2018, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-unanimous-resolution-that-the-press-is-not-the-enemy-of-the-people/819771/7 "2018-08-17T13:37:18Z")
It seems hopeful, but wait and see. BTW, Wyoming is the only state in which no newspaper published an editorial about the press being “the enemy of the people”. If Trump were impeached and then convicted we will have gone from chaotic evil to lawful (sort of) evil. Is that any improvement? ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2018, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-unanimous-resolution-that-the-press-is-not-the-enemy-of-the-people/819771/8 "2018-08-17T16:50:02Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > Am I naïve to find this very encouraging? Where have the Republican senators been for the past 2+ years when candidate, then President Trump was whipping up crowds with calls of “fake news”? How many of them spoke up when the President banned the television pool reporter from an open press event - an action that was [too much even for Fox News](https://www.cnn.com/2018/07/26/opinions/kaitlan-collins-cnn-reporter-banned-press-united-cupp-opinion/index.html)? Hiding behind a bland document that literally says, “the press is not the enemy of the people” is about as encouraging as [Ted Cruz’s endorsement of Donald Trump](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/09/23/cruz-to-reverse-himself-and-support-trump/?utm_term=.82ecd79ef02b) after Cruz was booed off the podium at the Republican Convention. ---
**Author:** ![DavidwithanR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@DavidwithanR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidwithanR)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2018, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-unanimous-resolution-that-the-press-is-not-the-enemy-of-the-people/819771/9 "2018-08-18T04:06:22Z")
I think it’s a particularly weak and weaselly statement to say that the press is not the enemy of the people. The truth is that the press is one of the greatest and most important friends of the people, especially in exposing the truth of what happens in politics. And the other truth, more important in context, is that any politician who tries to control the press is an enemy of the people. And they were not brave enough to mention either of those things. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2018, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-unanimous-resolution-that-the-press-is-not-the-enemy-of-the-people/819771/10 "2018-08-18T04:22:53Z")
> [@DavidwithanR](#): > > I think it’s a particularly weak and weaselly statement to say that the press is not the enemy of the people. The truth is that the press is one of the greatest and most important friends of the people, especially in exposing the truth of what happens in politics. And the other truth, more important in context, is that any politician who tries to control the press is an enemy of the people. And they were not brave enough to mention either of those things. > [@Senate resolution](#): > > … views efforts to systematically undermine the credibility of the press as an attack on the democratic institutions of the United States. Seems reasonable. I’m kind of glad they didn’t use “enemy of the people” as an accusation themselves, it smacks too much of the totalitarian. ---
**Author:** ![DavidwithanR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@DavidwithanR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidwithanR)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2018, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-unanimous-resolution-that-the-press-is-not-the-enemy-of-the-people/819771/11 "2018-08-18T04:42:33Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > I’m kind of glad they didn’t use “enemy of the people” as an accusation themselves, it smacks too much of the totalitarian. True, and yes the quoted material does seem reasonable to me too. Thanks for straightening that out. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2018, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-unanimous-resolution-that-the-press-is-not-the-enemy-of-the-people/819771/12 "2018-08-18T13:51:27Z")
Maybe not the enemy of the people, but in certain cases the enemy of grammar: > [@](#): > > [Kerala floods: Images after worse deluge in a century](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-45232327) And it’s the BBC, yet! ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2018, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-unanimous-resolution-that-the-press-is-not-the-enemy-of-the-people/819771/13 "2018-08-18T14:22:26Z")
I think it’s nakedly self-serving. None of them are crazy enough to vote against that, especially in an election year. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2018, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-unanimous-resolution-that-the-press-is-not-the-enemy-of-the-people/819771/14 "2018-08-18T15:24:39Z")
Although I stated my opinion upthread, I’d like to reiterate that the unanimous resolution directly contradicts bullshit coming from the Oval Office. For that reason alone it is good. IMO. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2018, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-unanimous-resolution-that-the-press-is-not-the-enemy-of-the-people/819771/15 "2018-08-18T15:33:52Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > Although I stated my opinion upthread, I’d like to reiterate that the unanimous resolution directly contradicts bullshit coming from the Oval Office. For that reason alone it is good. IMO. I agree with this. It’s a pretty weak statement, but when is the last time the Senate was unanimous on anything? Baby steps. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2018, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-unanimous-resolution-that-the-press-is-not-the-enemy-of-the-people/819771/16 "2018-08-18T17:24:58Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > Am I naïve to find this very encouraging? Yes. It’s encouraging, but not very encouraging. 😉 Only half joking there. This is an obvious rebuke to the guy sitting in the Oval Office, which is fine, but it’s pretty weak sauce. What I would find very encouraging is some sort of bipartisan action by Congress to address the myriad ways Trump has besmirched not only the press, but the judicial branch, the intelligence community, and many private citizens who simply disagree with him politically. I’d love to see impeachment. I’d love to see removal from office. But I’d be pleased even with Congress acting per above. It would be a token gesture with no legal consequences, but it would establish a tone in the country that is simply lacking right now from the government. Trump has the bullhorn and I’d like to see the legislative branch grab that bullhorn and shout his ass down. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2018, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-unanimous-resolution-that-the-press-is-not-the-enemy-of-the-people/819771/17 "2018-08-19T05:23:46Z")
“Everything you read in the newspapers is absolutely true—except for the rare story of which you happen to have firsthand knowledge.” —Knoll’s Law of Media Accuracy (Erwin Knoll, editor, “The Progressive”) “…it was the first time that I had seen a person whose profession was telling lies—unless one counts journalists.” –George Orwell, “Homage to Catalonia” (1938) “It is a melancholy truth, that a suppression of the press could not more completely deprive the nation of its benefits, than is done by its abandoned prostitution to falsehood. Nothing can now be believed which is seen in a newspaper. Truth itself becomes suspicious by being put into that polluted vehicle.” –Thomas Jefferson, letter to John Norvell (June 11, 1807) ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2018, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-unanimous-resolution-that-the-press-is-not-the-enemy-of-the-people/819771/18 "2018-08-19T07:33:42Z")
> [@rowrrbazzle](#): > > “Everything you read in the newspapers is absolutely true—except for the rare story of which you happen to have firsthand knowledge.” > —Knoll’s Law of Media Accuracy (Erwin Knoll, editor, “The Progressive”) > > “…it was the first time that I had seen a person whose profession was telling lies—unless one counts journalists.” > –George Orwell, “Homage to Catalonia” (1938) > > “It is a melancholy truth, that a suppression of the press could not more completely deprive the nation of its benefits, than is done by its abandoned prostitution to falsehood. Nothing can now be believed which is seen in a newspaper. Truth itself becomes suspicious by being put into that polluted vehicle.” > –Thomas Jefferson, letter to John Norvell (June 11, 1807) You should maybe take that flag off your avatar, since you appear not to believe in the Constitution very much. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2018, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-unanimous-resolution-that-the-press-is-not-the-enemy-of-the-people/819771/19 "2018-08-19T12:00:01Z")
Pretty soon the Senate is going to have to offer a new resolution. “We do, as a matter of fact, hold these truths to be self evident…” ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2018, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-unanimous-resolution-that-the-press-is-not-the-enemy-of-the-people/819771/20 "2018-08-19T12:05:18Z")
> [@rowrrbazzle](#): > > “Everything you read in the newspapers is absolutely true—except for the rare story of which you happen to have firsthand knowledge.” > —Knoll’s Law of Media Accuracy (Erwin Knoll, editor, “The Progressive”) > > “…it was the first time that I had seen a person whose profession was telling lies—unless one counts journalists.” > –George Orwell, “Homage to Catalonia” (1938) > > “It is a melancholy truth, that a suppression of the press could not more completely deprive the nation of its benefits, than is done by its abandoned prostitution to falsehood. Nothing can now be believed which is seen in a newspaper. Truth itself becomes suspicious by being put into that polluted vehicle.” > –Thomas Jefferson, letter to John Norvell (June 11, 1807) Pretty rich Jefferson quote, considering he actually paid a newspaper to write lies about John Adams. But all of a piece for that hypocrite. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-unanimous-resolution-that-the-press-is-not-the-enemy-of-the-people/819771.md?page=2)