Trumped: The Gulf of Amexico and other issues

2 days ago , by Richard Lutz

Richard Lutz looks to this week in the White House

It doesn’t take but a second to flip to page 234 of my old atlas to see that the body of water between Florida and Mexico is called The Gulf of Mexico. But not in some quarters.

In one of his more moronic decisions, convicted felon Mr President Trump declared just after stepping inside The White House that it would be re-named The Gulf of America. Which doesn’t even ring true because I think what he might have meant was The Gulf of The United States as America technically includes Canada, the aforementioned Mexico, Ecuador, the lost kingdom of the Incas, Chile, the Andes, Patagonia, Paraguay, gauchos, and the rest of the continent.

But you get the idea.

Now, where does the US’s unassailable First Amendment of the Constitution come in? Y’know, the bit about free speech and a free press and the unshackled ability (and legal right) to stand on a soap box and rail against…well, anyone or anything you want to rail against? That kind of stuff.

In a move not a million miles from 1984’s Big Brother, the president has banned the huge wire service Associated Press from sectors of The White House and even the travelling press pack because it still adheres to the geographic name of The Gulf of Mexico. And that’s not what Trump decreed.

I’m reminded of the first Superman movie, way back in the 1970’s, when bad guy Lex Luther (played by Gene Hackman) foamed at the mouth and demanded LA be renamed Lutherville. It’s that idiotic. That cartoon-ish.

Punishing press independence

But also that dangerous. The AP style book, according to the news-site Tortoise, still uses the original name of the international body of water. And hundreds if not thousands of English speaking news organisations use the guide.

But Trump wants to smash through The First Amendment and punish those who think- or publish- anything disagreeable to him or his slavish cronies. He wants to punish AP for being independent of governmental thought. He not only wishes to change the world map but bully the media.

AP has now tabled a lawsuit against the Trump regime, demanding a place again at the media table. It says the Constitution does not allow the government to control speech. It calls the White House decision a ‘threat to every American’s freedom’. Strange bedfellows have backed the AP case. Fox News and Newsmax, two tame Trump mouthpieces, have joined The New York Times and The Washington Post in demanding that AP is let back in. Whatever their stances, they understand the ineluctable importance of The First Amendment (so far).

The president, of course, has already taken to the courts himself. So far he has won a total of $40m in two media cases from news organisations who didn’t want to take on a fight. And he has tabled, according to Tortoise, more lawsuits against ABC, CBS and Meta for reporting what they wish.

On top of that, ominously, he has appointed a loyal acolyte to head the Federal Communications Commission. It oversees publicly funded news outlets such as the NPR radio network and the free to air PBS television service. It doesn’t augur well for these independent sources in the week that commemorates the third anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and a White House visit by UK leader Keir Starmer.

‘An engagement in authoritarian terrorism on a nation…’

Instead, it makes for a very disturbing storm cloud on the politico-media horizon where The First Amendment is being kicked around like a deflated football.

By his actions, whatever you think of some of Trump’s policies (such as federal cutbacks or his stance on NATO), he is certainly no friend of United States citizens and its founding fathers, who, despite whatever 18thc faults they had, thought it a good idea to cherish free speech for all.

Let’s leave the final word from American lawyer James Burke.

‘Yes, the attack on the press, on speech, on workers, on poor people is horrible, wrong, often illegal and unconstitutional’ he warns, ‘but don’t let all of this distract from what Mr Trump is up to.’

‘And that is engaging in classic authoritarian terrorism on a nation.’

‘If you try to figure out what rational policy reason he has in any one of his actions you will not get anywhere.’

pic credit: PC