CRACKPOT – AT 11:53 A.M. ET:  It is time to call out Jeff Flake, the so-called "Republican" senator from Arizona who has, thankfully, decided not to run for re-election. 

I have no problem at all with members of his own party criticizing the president.  In fact, it should be done more often with all presidents.  But Jeff Flake abuses the privilege.  From the Washington Times: 

President Trump is employing techniques “popularized by Joseph Stalin” to demonize the press and his approach could do great harm to the nation in the long run, Sen. Jeff Flake said Sunday.

An absolutely absurd comment.  If Joseph Stalin didn't like a journalist, the journalist suddenly disappeared.  All Trump does is criticize.

In an appearance on ABC’s “This Week,” the retiring Arizona Republican and outspoken critic of the president said he’s deeply troubled by how Mr. Trump attacks the media.

“You can talk about crowd size, and this is pretty innocuous if there’s a falsehood. But when you reflexively refer to the press as the ‘enemy of the people’ or ‘fake news,’ that has real damage,” Mr. Flake said. “It has real damage to our standing in the world. And I noted how bad it is for a president to take what was popularized by Joseph Stalin, the ‘enemy of the people,’ to refer to the press.”

Mr. Flake announced his retirement last year amid continued clashes with the president. Before Mr. Flake’s announcement, the president endorsed his would-be challenger in the GOP Senate primary in Arizona, Kelli Ward.

Since then, Mr. Flake has continued to be one of the loudest Republican critics of the president. Specifically, he takes great issue with how Mr. Trump demeans the media.

“I’m going to talk about how damaging that is,” the senator said. “I just want the president to know that this has real consequences.”

COMMENT:  No, it really doesn't.  Attacking the press is a time-honored tradition.  The press is a powerful institution, and could use a good spanking from time to time.

John F. Kennedy famously banned the old New York Herald-Tribune from the White House because he didn't like how it reported his administration.

Dwight D. Eisenhower denounced "sensation-seeking columnists" at the 1964 Republican convention.

Harry S. Truman scathingly denounced a Washington Post music critic for giving a a poor review to the president's daughter, an operatic singer.

Nixon's fights with the press were beauts.  The press survived.  Nixon did not.

Don't worry about the press being damaged by presidential attacks.  Worry about presidents being damaged by bad reporting.

January 14,  2018