The out-and-out lying at the behest of his master is one thing.
But Sean Spicer’s arrogance at today’s inaugural White House press briefing in suggesting that Trump administration will ‘hold the press accountable’ is offensive to any sense of understanding of why the First Amendment exists.
Let’s have the late, great Justice Hugo Black explain it:
‘In the First Amendment the Founding Fathers gave the free press the protection it must have to fulfill its essential role in our democracy. The press was to serve the governed, not the governors. The Government’s power to censor the press was abolished so that the press would remain forever free to censure the Government. The press was protected so that it could bare the secrets of government and inform the people.’
