Online Public Relations Thoughts

It's interesting that a solid majority of American voters, even Republicans, believe the President should follow court decisions even if he is opposed to them.  Judges are the last line of constitutional defense in citizens' eyes and that is good at a time when Congress has ceded its power to the executive branch.

It is clear from actions of Israelis that they consider the West Bank to be theirs to settle and they want resident Palestinians out.  This is an all too common incident lately.  The government is making no effort to protect Palestinians and as each village is destroyed by Israeli settlers the Palestinians are told to move elsewhere -- Jordan, Lebanon, anywhere but here. America has a parallel in Manifest Destiny in which white men were convinced that all the land between the East Coast and the West Coast was theirs to settle, indians be damned.  It was unfair and unjust then and now in the West Bank.  How do these ideas get started?  For America it was westward expansion.  For Israelis it is biblical.  Both movements have ensured long-term problems dealing with the oppressed.

The news industry is used to confrontation and controversy but now with a hostile White House, they are earning their keep.  The unanswered question is whether publishers will stand up or fold.  Already we have seen accommodations to President Trump.  Who will risk a lawsuit that ends in the Supreme Court other than the New York Times?  How willing are they to stand up for the First Amendment?  

If Elon Musk doesn't think this is a PR crisis, he's not as smart as people think he is. The public has turned against him.