Is the media REALLY the enemy of the American People?

I've been trying very hard not to watch the news as intently as I have been over the past year.  It's not that I don't want to be well-informed about the issues that we as a nation are facing.  It's more around the fact that what I am seeing in the news bothers me to the point where I have to tune out as opposed to tuning in, allowing myself a fast from politics...at least for a day or two.

The president has officially declared war on the media by stating (rather repeatedly) that they are the enemy; not of him but the American People.  And unfortunately, some will buy into that logic even though the ones that do believe and subscribe to that ideology should be able to see what is going on right before their eyes.

Mr. Trump caters to his fan base...the people that voted for him and hang onto his every word whenever he speaks or has something to say.  And right now, he is playing a dangerous game by declaring war on the media by calling the news reporting outlets that are critical of some of the things that he has said and done since he assumed the role of commander in chief fake.  The danger is in discrediting highly respected news reporting outlets that have never been labeled the enemy of the American people until now.  In fact, the only thing that these agencies have done is report the news; regardless of whether they are in praise of Mr. Trump or not.  It just so happens that they don't have much room for praise because Mr. Trump has not done anything of late except attempting to keep the promises that he made to his fan base which is not the vast majority of the American people.  Mind you, while that may be of significant importance to him, the role of commander in chief is to govern for all of America and not just the few that put him in office.

What worries me is that while he is attacking the media for doing their job, I have to wonder what else is driving his behavior.  While I am sure that part of it is because he loves to be praised (which will explain why he adamantly supports Fox News) there may be a more nefarious reason as to why he is attacking the media with such fervor...and that reason may be his possible ties to Russia.

What better way to dismiss the claims that his presidency may not be legitimate by attacking the media that would report what took place if it is established that members of his campaign had been in collusion with Russia to help him win an election which he might not have won otherwise?  It's a thought.

But the bigger threat is by silencing the media, he places the very people that put him into office at risk.  God forbid if anything catastrophic should occur and the attempts to warn the American public would go unheeded because the trust had been eroded by the president.

The news is meant to inform.  Our democracy was built upon the idea that freedom of the press comes at the expense of anyone or anything that is doing wrong as much as its to the glee of someone or something that is doing right.  To silence that voice would be of serious detriment to our society.

The following is the definition of the first amendment:

Amendment Text | Annotations. Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

As I stated before and it bears repeating;

The president does not have a problem with the media as much as he has a problem with the truth.  To attack the media that does not praise him is unfair and therefore a threat to our democracy and his job is to enforce and adhere to our constitution.

~ J.L. Whitehead