You may remember that back in April I wrote a post titled Freedom of the Press … Abused!!!. The subject of that post was Sinclair Broadcast Group, owner of 193 television stations nationwide.  Sinclair struck a deal with the Trump campaign in 2016 that granted them extended access to Trump in exchange for running all his speeches without commentary.  Sinclair stations lean toward conservative ideologies as it is and have come under fire before for biased news reporting.  When I wrote in April, it was because Sinclair had come onto the radar for what Dan Rather referred to as “an assault on our democracy”.  They were sending scripted ‘must-run’ segments.  The one in April was about ‘fake news’ and implied that Sinclair stations were the only ones not biased.  How can that be true when they are tied to Trump?

Once again Sinclair is back in the news, this time because of controversy surrounding a ‘must run’ editorial by Boris Epshteyn, Chief Political Analyst at Sinclair, that each station is being forced to air (I am so glad I do not watch television!!!). This latest segment blames the media for ‘overreacting’ to the separations of immigrant children from their parents.  OVERREACTING???  Excuse me, Sinclair Broadcast Group, but there can be no reaction too strong to the horror, the abomination of 2,300 children taken from their parents for no reason!  Freedom of the press … remember that???  That is where the press is free to report the news as it sees fit.  Not to be dictated to by a corporate giant who is in bed with Donald Trump!

I am including both a clip of the forced segment, as  well as the written transcript:

“Our immigration system is undeniably broken and the discourse around this topic is toxic.

A perfect illustration of these facts is the recent firestorm surrounding President Trump’s decision to enforce a “zero tolerance” policy and prosecute all adults illegally crossing our borders.

Many members of the media and opponents of the president have seized on this issue and have worked overtime to make it seem as if those who are tough on immigration are monsters. Let’s be honest, while some of the concern is real, a lot of it is politically driven by the liberals in politics and the media.

Some have even gone as far as comparing American immigration policies to the Holocaust.

It should go without saying that keeping children in a shelter is not equal to the Nazi slaughter of 6 million Jews and millions of others.

President Trump has correctly decided to step in and sign an executive order that will stop the separation of children from their families at the border. The president is working to show that it is possible to balance humanity with security for our borders.

Here’s the bottom line: the view that border security and humane treatment of families are mutually exclusive is wrong. That narrative is also incredibly harmful to finding a comprehensive solution to the problem of illegal immigration.

President Trump did the right thing by addressing the separation of families from their children on his own, but it is shameful that members of Congress continue to drag their feet on addressing all of the many holes in our immigration laws.”

Toeing the party line, isn’t he?  Of course, he fails to mention a few dozen facts, but guess what else he failed to mention?  Epshteyn is a former Trump advisor who is part of the investigation by Robert Mueller and his team into the Trump campaign’s ties with Russia.  Ahem.  Epshteyn is a Russian-born republican strategist who resigned from a White House communications job under Trump after only two months. He confirmed that he has been contacted for information for the House investigation, but little is known about his suspected campaign activities.

Freedom of the Press.  Most people never realize what a tenuous thing it is, how easily it can be undermined, shattered.  Sinclair, along with Fox News, has essentially become state-run media. My personal recommendation here is to boycott all Sinclair stations completely.  Unsure which stations are owned by Sinclair?  Check it out here.  If nearly 200 stations nationwide can make false claims, eschew facts, and convince their viewers of the lie that is being promoted by none other than Donald Trump, America’s #1 liar-in-chief, then freedom of the press is in grave danger. And make no mistake, folks, without freedom of the press … well, The Washington Post logo says it best …