John McCain: We Need A Free, Sometimes Adversarial Press

I’m not a huge fan of Senator John McCain’s. I often find him wrong, more than I find him right.

When the GOP propped this guy up as the nominee in 2008, I had to scratch my head and wonder what they were thinking (but I held my nose and voted for him).

On Saturday, however, appearing on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Senator McCain said something I absolutely agree with and he made the point I’ve been trying to make (I actually let loose with that last night).

When asked about the president’s tweet from Friday that accused the media of being the “enemy of the American people,” McCain took the opportunity to underscore the importance of free press in the modern era.

“A fundamental part of that new world order was a free press. I hate the press, I hate you especially, but the fact is we need you, we need a free press,” McCain told Chuck Todd in an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

“That’s how dictators get started,” he added later. “They get started by suppressing free press, in other words, a consolidation of power.”

“I am not saying that President Trump is trying to be a dictator. I am just saying we need to learn the lessons of history,” he said, warning about any attempts to “shut down” the press.

As annoyed as I find myself with pretty much everything McCain says and does, as a sitting senator and a fully stampeding “RiNO,” this is one of those times where I could hug his neck.

It’s like he’s been reading my work (Hi, Senator McCain).

I don’t know that he has. He should, though.

The tweet in question was this one, from Friday:

The FAKE NEWS media (failing @nytimes, @NBCNews, @ABC, @CBS, @CNN) is not my enemy, it is the enemy of the American People!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 17, 2017

I’ve repeatedly said that Trump’s attacks on the free media were dangerous to our republic. While Trump’s loyalists want to blame the media and act as if Trump is 100% right, 101% of the time, they’re not living in the real world.

During his interview, McCain argued that free press is vital for a functioning democracy and the preservation of individual liberties.

“If you want to preserve, I am very serious now … democracy as we know it, you have to have a free –– and many times adversarial –– press. And without it, I am afraid, that we would lose so much of our individual liberties over time.”

And if you never say anything I can agree with again, Senator McCain, on this, I am with you, fully.

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