1. One of the biggest news item of the last two days was the reiteration of Trump’s favorite charge that the press is “fake news” and is the “enemy of the people”, at CPAC (Conservative Political Action Conference). Jake Tapper, of CNN, commenting on Trump at CPAC.
“This White House does not seem to respect the idea of accountability. This White House does not seem to value an independent press. There is a word for that li…”
**This is perhaps the most worrying of Trump’s attacks on democratic norms. It follows Hitler’s (and other dictators’) playbook perfectly.**
2. The other biggest news item (and part and parcel of the above item):
from The Hill
“Media figures slam White House for excluding outlets from briefing
3. Bannon at CPAC:
From The Daily Kos, Steve Bannon’s admission:
Atop Trump’s agenda, Bannon said, was the “deconstruction of the administrative state” — meaning a system of taxes, regulations and trade pacts that the president and his advisers believe stymie economic growth and infringe upon one’s sovereignty.
“If you look at these Cabinet nominees, they were selected for a reason, and that is deconstruction,” Bannon said. He posited that Trump’s announcement withdrawing from the Trans-Pacific Partnership was “one of the most pivotal moments in modern American history.”
**Not that this was any surprise**
4. Trump supporters wave Russian flags at CPAC:
From TPM
Activists Prank CPAC Attendees Into Waving Russian Flags At Trump
NATIONAL HARBOR, MARYLAND—When President Donald Trump took the stage Friday at the Conservative Political Action Conference, he was greeted with cheers, chants of “USA,” and dozens of Russian flags. Two young, progressive activists from DC, Jason Charter and Ryan Clayton with the group Americans Take Action, purchased tickets to the conference, and handed out nearly 1,000 flags to attendees as a prank. After they were thrown out of the conference, they told TPM they wanted to “shed light on an important issue”—namely, the drip of revelations of backchannel communications between the Russian government and the Trump campaign—and allow people to “get a laugh out of their day.”. Charter, 22, told TPM by phone that he and Clayton organized the prank in order to “honor Trump’s relationship with Putin.” He said almost no one at CPAC seemed to realize the flag he handed them bore the horizontal red, white, and blue stripes of the Russian Federation underneath Trump’s name.” I asked people if they wanted a Trump flag and they took it,” Charter said. “Many Trump supporters were proudly waving their Russian Trump flag.” “I think it says a lot about Donald Trump’s base and their education level,” he added. “I don’t want to insult anyone, but I think you should know what the Russian flag is. They are one of the world’s major powers, and it’s a pretty easily recognized flag.” CPAC staff quickly confiscated the flags, but not before the embarrassing image went viral on social media.
**One of the best laughs for awhile! Good going guys.”**
