donal brown

Amanda Marcotte in Salon, May 11, 2021, writes that the Republicans accuse the Democrats of “cancel culture” to shield their own extremist views and otherwise claim they are the victims of censorship when Democrats mock them. In the meantime they criticize athletes for kneeling in protest of racism during the national anthem. Now they censor anyone refusing to say Donald Trump lost the last election, pointedly Rep. LIz Cheney of Wyoming, whom they removed from

White House reporters are disgruntled about the Biden administration’s use of “quote approval,” requiring reporters to send quotes to the communication team for approval or editing. Both Obama and Trump teams used the practice, but reporters say the Biden team is using it more. Reporters are talking about banding together to object to the practice. (Politico, May 10, 2021, by Alex Thompson and Theodoric Meyer with contributions from Allie Bice) White House press secretary Jen

In response to a judge’s order, new Attorney General Rob Bonta announced he would release police misconduct records and promote transparency in his agency. (San Francisco Chronicle, May 10, 2021, by Michael Cabanatuan) The American Civil Liberties Union accused the Chico City Council of conducting secret meetings about the homeless problem. The council has also been charged with allegedly violating the Brown Act, the state’s open meeting law in make the decision in February to

A coalition filed a lawsuit in federal court contending that the recently passed Florida voting law violates First Amendment rights and would impede voters from exercising their right to vote. (WUSF, May 6, 2021, by Jim Saunders) The law SB 90 limits what voters are told when they register to vote so the Democrat’s election lawyer, Marc Elias, says it violates free speech rights. (The New York Times, May 7, 2021, by Reid J. Epstein

The Justice Department wrote to Washington Post reporters informing them that under former President Donald Trump the department obtained their phone records and tried to get their e-mail records to obtain information on reporting they did on Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. The Post demanded that the department explain why they took such action in violation of free press rights. The Justice Department said they weren’t after the reporters but rather individuals within