Donald Trump is a master at launching “shiny objects” to detract and distract voters from the Epstein files and other nefarious activities by his family and his Administration.  Some of those distractions are very local to the metropolitan area – renaming the Institute of Peace for himself, threatening to take over Washington’s public golf courses to remake them into his image, UFC fights on the White House lawn to celebrate his birthday (at taxpayer expense?), buying shoes for his male cabinet members – and may not resonate with folks outside the Beltway.  Others – renaming the Kennedy Center and closing it for two years, his enormous ballroom and arch, continuing ICE activities in Democratic cities and planning to hold thousands of immigrants in industrial warehouses in rural areas, weaponizing the Department of Justice, lifting environmental protections across the country, cancelling development of renewable energy sources and, of course, manufacturing a war against Iran – have resulted in outrage and headlines from coast to coast.  

More important but often lost in the deliberate chaos are his constant assaults against the First Amendment.  Freedom of religion, freedom of speech, and freedom of the press, the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and petitioning the government for redress of grievances are bedrock rights inscribed into the United States Constitution. Nonetheless, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who rose to fame as a Fox television news personality, demanded that the news media cover the war on Iran in more positive light rather than critique the lack of war planning and vast expense in the two or three weeks since Trump ordered the attack.  Frequently citing “fake news,” a favorite epithet wielded by all members of the Cabinet, Hegseth also took the extraordinary step of banning news photographers from his press briefings because he didn’t like the published images.  A little thin-skinned?  Perhaps Mr. Hegseth needs to develop for himself the “warrior” mentality he touts for his troops.  

On top of that, Brendan Carr, Trump’s appointed chairman of the Federal Communica-tions Commission (FCC), again warned broadcasters that he is prepared to revoke their government licenses if he deems their coverage “fake news.”  Carr said that “broadcasters must operate in the public interest, and they will lose their licenses if they do not.”  Perhaps Chairman Carr is confusing the public interest with Trump’s interests, usually expressed on his Truth Social post, which often castigates not just broadcast news but late-night talk show hosts and anyone else who might say something on-air that he doesn’t like. Mr. Carr’s domain actually is rather small.  The FCC issues licenses for local radio and television stations to use airwaves owned by the public, but the mainstream networks, cable news networks, newspapers, periodicals, and other media do not fall under FCC oversight. A journalist’s report, a comedian’s satire, or an editorial column may elicit debate or dissent, but they are not grounds for government censorship  in a democratic society. 

In 1852, the American abolitionist Wendell Phillips declared that “Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty; power is ever stealing from the many to the few.”  Before fast-paced technology, before economic and military superiority, before availability public education for all, before Trump and Carr, his declaration was prescient.  Phillips’ admonition is even more essential as we approach the 250th anniversary of our fragile democracy amid threats of destruction to the basic tenets of the First Amendment.