Republican Senator says attacks on free press are "how dictatorships get started"

(CNN) Sen. John McCain slammed Fake President Trump's attacks on the media this week by noting dictators "get started by suppressing free press."

It was a startling observation from a sitting member of Congress against the President of the United States, especially considering McCain is a member of Trump's party.

"I hate the press," the Arizona Republican sarcastically told NBC News' Chuck Todd on "Meet the Press." "I hate you especially. But the fact is we need you. We need a free press. We must have it. It's vital."

But he continued, "If you want to preserve -- I'm very serious now -- if you want to preserve democracy as we know it, you have to have a free and many times adversarial press," McCain said in the interview. "And without it, I am afraid that we would lose so much of our individual liberties over time. That's how dictators get started."

http://www.cnn.com/2017/02/18/politics/john-mccain-donald-trump-dictators/

An article from 1st May 2014...


The United Kingdom has tumbled down global press freedom rankings in the wake of the Leveson Inquiry and the government’s reaction to the Edward Snowden leaks.

The Freedom of the Press 2014 report put the UK five places down on last year at number 36, alongside Malta and Slovakia and below countries including Costa Rica, Belize and the Czech Republic.

Freedom House, an independent watchdog based in the US, used factors including media control, political influence, access to information and pressure on journalists to decide the rankings.

The UK scored well economically but lower politically and legally, although still in the “free” category.

The report noted the long-awaited reform of defamation laws aiming to curb “libel tourism” as a positive step but said there were a “number of negative developments” relating to Edward Snowden’s leaks about the National Security Agency (NSA) and Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ).

Authorities used terrorism legislation to detain the partner of Glenn Greenwald, a Guardian journalist, at Heathrow Airport and supervised the destruction of hard drives at the newspaper’s offices.

The report added: “In the wake of the 2011 News of the World phone-hacking scandal and the Leveson Inquiry that followed, the establishment of a new regulatory body to oversee print media also raised concerns among some observers.”
Karin Karlekar, the project director, said media freedom had declined on a global level as governments tried to “control the message”.

She added: “In every region of the world last year, we found both governments and private actors attacking reporters, blocking their physical access to newsworthy events, censoring content, and ordering politically motivated firings of journalists.”


http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/uk-tumbles-down-world-press-freedom-rankings-9312884.html

And...


http://www.globalresearch.ca/britain-accused-of-attacking-freedom-of-the-press-again-investigative-journalists-classified-as-terrorists/5551697




All happening before trump became president...


But the Republican man is saying that he supports press freedom!

Tommy Monk wrote:And...

http://www.globalresearch.ca/britain-accused-of-attacking-freedom-of-the-press-again-investigative-journalists-classified-as-terrorists/5551697

All happening before trump became president...

But the Republican man is saying that he supports press freedom!

But Tommy, that's the UK. Britain doesn't have a written constitution, let alone a First Amendment. Y'all have a number of laws that abridge speech and press freedoms. Plus, Conservatives have been in charge.

Tommy Monk wrote:And...


http://www.globalresearch.ca/britain-accused-of-attacking-freedom-of-the-press-again-investigative-journalists-classified-as-terrorists/5551697




All happening before trump became president...


But the Republican man is saying that he supports press freedom!

So he's supposed to chime in on everything that goes down in your country when he doesn't even do that with ours?

BTW, "the Republican man" ran against Obama for president in 2008 ...

He's saying he supports press freedom...

I also support press freedom...




.

Tommy Monk wrote:He's saying he supports press freedom...

I also support press freedom...




.

Yeah, well, the point is that Trump has declared the press an enemy of the American people.