Writing Sunday night for crazy Oliver Darcy’s site Status, Natalie Korach gushed over an apparel line designed by CNN host Jake Tapper for journalists to don April 25 at the White House Correspondents Dinner (WHCD) so they can stick it to the people many of them hate: President Trump (and, by extension, his supporters).
Korach explained the items — which include a fan, lapel pin, notebook, pocket square, phone wallet, or tote bag, all benefitting the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press — will be “bearing the text ‘Congress shall make no law abridging the Freedom of Speech or of the Press’” in “a hand-drawn design by CNN’s Jake Tapper” and serve as a brave way to “rise to the occasion” against the President and his team.
These people really do think they’re Jesse Owens at the 1936 Olympics in Nazi Germany or the tank guy in Tiananmen Square, do they? How about they wear pins instead to call attention to Shlley Kittleson, an American journalist who actually risked her life to report inside Iraq and was kidnapped on March 31.
But alas, Korach found the real heroes in American journalism, boasting Trump “might spot some of those attending the White House Correspondents’ Association’s gala sporting unusual accessories: pocket squares and pins with the words of the First Amendment, in a subversive gesture supporting press freedom, reflecting the news media’s consciousness of the perilous moment it’s in, and why.”
“The First Amendment merchandise is…designed to provide the press corps with a visible way of signaling support for press freedom…Like members of Congress coordinating colors to make a political statement during the State of the Union Address, the display will be subtle, not to take away from the purpose of the event, but it serves as a symbolic demonstration that Trump won’t be able to miss,” she added, comparing journalists to their kindred spirits in Hill Democrats.
Korach says “[t]he question” of “how can people show up for the First Amendment” arose because of the (unforgivable) sin of inviting President Trump, which Status has previously lambasted the White House Correspondents Association head Weijia Jiang of CBS and her board for doing.
Korcah conceded “it’s hard not to read the effort as something more than decorative” even though the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press “stopped short of explicitly tying the campaign to Trump’s attendance,” but will nonetheless show their personal and political opposition to the administration (i.e. support for Democrats) as a form of “solidarity to Trump’s face.”
Of course, Tapper gave a smug quote:
“I am so excited to wear this pocket square—especially at events in D.C. where there are many people who know how vital the First Amendment is, and also quite a few who might need to be reminded of its importance,” Tapper said.
Maybe someone should ask Tapper et al a very important question: You know who else has First Amendment rights? Each and every American, even those who aren’t in elite media.
Because liberal, elite journalists are supposedly the Lord’s greatest gift to man, Korach had to inject more self-importance by huffing a lapel pin or tote “represent[s] a far more consequential fight playing out in courtrooms, regulatory agencies, and in the broader reshaping of the media business.”
“A small gesture, perhaps, but one that speaks to the moment,” she concluded as proof of “how far” the (incestuous) “relationship” between a White House and press “has deteriorated.”
If your eyes just rolled to the back of your head, you’re not alone.
