Trump's Ethos: Truth Is What You Can Get Away With - by James Fallows

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'Trump’s attacks on the free press don’t just threaten the media—they undermine the public’s capacity to think, act, and defend democracy. W SJ's editorial writer Bret Stephens, contrasts Trump’s media complaints with those of other politicians,  but the question of what Mr. Trump might yet do by political methods against the media matters a great deal less than what he is attempting to do by ideological and philosophical methods.  Ideologically, the president is trying to depose so-called mainstream media in favor of the media he likes—Breitbart News and the rest.  His objection is to objectivity itself.  He’s perfectly happy for the media to be disgusting and corrupt—so long as it’s on his side.  The trait that most strikingly distinguishes Trump from most other politicians is that he does not care if he is shown to be telling obvious, easily disprovable lies.'