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Really we're all just interested in what your line for calling a person a fascist is, and what you would call the folks who did this? "When the Pentagon announ
by hobs 1y ago
Really we're all just interested in what your line for calling a person a fascist is, and what you would call the folks who did this?
"When the Pentagon announced that reporters would only be credentialed if they pledged not to report on documents not expressly released by official press handlers, free press advocates, including FAIR (9/23/25), denounced the directive as an assault on the First Amendment.
The impact of this rule cannot be understated—any reporter agreeing to such terms is essentially a deputized public relations lackey."
If you can't write with basic clarity because that makes your progressive, you might want to investigate your own bias.
- next_xibalba 1y agoYeah, my line for calling someone fascist is not “restricting reporters access to the Pentagon”. It cheapens the word and all that it represents. There is a wide gulf between writing with basic clarity and injecting opinions like “so and so is a toady”. I would love to see media outlets attempt to describe just the facts with as little opinion as possible. FAIR clearly does not meet that bar.
- Larrikin 1y agoIn what scenario does a fascist not restrict freedom of the press as one of their steps?
- next_xibalba 1y agoIt is a necessary but not sufficient condition. But this is not that. This is, “you don’t have unfettered access to personnel and facilities.” Fascism would be “if you print that we will arrest you and maybe shut your operation down.” And maybe a paramilitary squad of goons will fire bomb your offices in the meantime. This will read as snark, but I swear it is not: read about the truly fascist regimes of history. The difference is night and day.
- hobs 1y agoIt doesn't read as snark, it reads as a god of the gaps argument from all the people wishing we weren't doing what we are doing.
- oh_my_goodness 1y agoWe've all read about them. The key lesson in every one of those stories is this: don't wait for the entire building to burn down before you pull a fire alarm.
- jquery 1y agoThey weren't revoked from unfettered access to the Pentagon. They were revoked from all access to the Pentagon. It's hard to be a democratic society when the institutions that make democracy possible are hindered wherever possible. Fascism is an ideology, an approach towards government. Banning reporters from the Pentagon and the White House can be both legal and fascistic.