The State Department Gave Sam Husseini a Concussion
The First Amendment is still in peril.
This morning, Sam Husseini notified his readers why he has been largely silent for the past several weeks: the State Department gave him a concussion, after its security personnel dragged him from the State Department’s briefing room. The manhandling that gave Sam his concussion was done after his ejection, out of sight of any cameras. I hope that Sam gets a nice fat settlement in a landmark lawsuit that ensures that no journalist in the USA is ever treated like that again. The image of Sam’s barking questions at Blinken as he was being carried out will last the rest of my life. Naturally, none of Sam’s questions were addressed. Blinken thanked the journalists who weren’t carried out for asking the hard questions. Orwell could not have scripted that. Sam is a beacon in the darkness.
The USA has long killed journalists during its imperial activities, and its client states have engaged in wholesale slaughters of journalists, such as during Reagan’s reign of terror in Central America. As of today, at least 170 journalists and media workers have been killed in Israel’s genocidal invasion of Gaza, for the greatest journalist slaughter in over 30 years. Getting a concussion may seem minor in comparison, but we have a First Amendment that theoretically protects Sam’s activities.
Trump signed an executive order to protect the First Amendment, while ironically barring AP from the White House briefing room. I agree that AP is a propaganda conduit, like the entire mainstream media is, but if the First Amendment ever needed protecting, it is now.