President Donald Trump may soon prove one of America's founding fathers right, that a government that attacks the press is a "prologue to a tragedy or a farce," according to a new column.
Comedian and actor Michael Ian Black argued in a new piece for The Daily Beast on Wednesday that the Trump administration's raid on Washington Post reporter Hannah Natanson's home should alarm every American. The FBI said that it seized Natanson's devices in relation to an investigation into a national security leak. These raids are typically protected under the Privacy Protection Act, Black noted, and the case doesn't appear to meet the exceptions of that law.
Instead, the Trump administration appears to be sending a very clear message to people who dare to speak out in protest, Black argued.
"Our interests have been betrayed. Our rights trampled. Our lives sacrificed," Black wrote. "To what end? Maybe you don’t care about a single reporter at a single, failing newspaper. But you should. The farce is upon us. The tragedy is underway."
Black also noted the conspicuous absence of Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos in the affair. Bezos's Blue Origin company has millions of dollars in government contracts, which could be influencing his decision on whether to speak out.
"Having already overhauled the Post’s opinion coverage—and its editorial priorities more broadly—to curry favor with the administration, he does not seem inclined to risk even a single dollar for the sake of our pesky First Amendment," Black wrote.
