What Legacy Media Refuses to Discuss, yet We Must Not Forget

Photograph by The Independent

As of the writing of this article, only a handful of outlets have reported on the banner captured in this photograph (The Independent, WUSA9, Civil Eats, and a few sites that reposted The Independent’s article). That is the extent of its coverage.

Unless you were looking, it would be easy to miss this historic moment as it unfolds.

Instead, everyday people are raising the alarm. On social media sites such as Threads and Blusky, posts popped up minutes after The Independent’s article was published.

On my own Thread, the comments ranged from incendiary to disgust with a hint of irony. Several commenters recognized the similarities. As one Threader wrote, “Looks familiar…hmmm.”

Banners hung over historic squares and from landmarks have a storied history. Spoilers—it is not a positive one.

On X, the Secretary of the USDA shared about this moment as well. “Happy 163rd birthday to the USDA!” wrote Secretary Brooke Rollins. “Lincoln founded the ‘People’s Department’— today, our National Mall banners celebrate his legacy & President Trump’s commitment to our farmers. I’m honored to serve as we grow America’s future. 🌱🎂”

The contrast could not be more stark: celebration and disgust, a cake versus a crown.

This is not, of course, the first time Trump has taken tips from other fascist regimes. As I reported last week, the Department of Homeland Security has launched an ad campaign “warning illegal aliens to leave our country NOW or face deportation with the inability to return to the US.” These are the words of Secretary Noem posted to her X account on February 17. She continues, “This serves as a strong warning to criminal illegal aliens to not come to America. If they do, they will be hunted down and deported.”

Hunted down. Yes, you read that correctly.

Few media outlets are discussing these ads. And if they do, they tiptoe around the truth, careful not to cross the line.

These are propaganda, aimed at stoking America’s hatred, plain and simple. Even more unsettling is that few are alarmed by the registry DHS is encouraging undocumented persons to join. They dangle promises of support and leniency like a carrot.

Promises made to the vulnerable by the tyrannical are the soil from which atrocities grow.

And then there’s the White House X account. What was once a bastion of puff-pieces and national news has become a hub for one-sided narratives. Post-after-post lauds the President’s achievements, highlights his promises, and mocks his adversaries.

One post reads, “THE TRUMP EFFECT IS IGNITING AMERICA’S GOLDEN AGE.” Another defames former Presidents Biden and Obama, as well as other Democrats, throwing in a racial slur. Through the poor grammar, a message emerges: “They lied.”

And please, do not discount the visuals. They are as intentional as we suspect them to be.

Once again, legacy media has reported on individual posts, highlighting the obscene or outlandish. Yet, the subtle is overlooked. The elephant in the room is missed in the headline: the White House social media has been seized by a tech-savvy, would-be Joseph Goebbels. To believe otherwise is ignoring the obvious.

There is a silence so loud is cries for justice.

There was silence when Germany redefined “Jewish” to mean a race not a culture, laying another stone on the path to Dachau.

There was silence when the 13th Amendment permitted the use of forced labor “as a punishment for crime,” paving the way to racial injustice in our prison system.

There was silence when the Declaration of Independence stated that all MEN are created equal.

We cannot let these moments slip into oblivion. They are the foundation upon which a regime can build a monolith.

It’s not the moment that matters, per se, but the momentum. With each banner, with each tweet, and with each commercial, another brick is added. If we do not pay attention, we will soon find ourselves walled into a system of government that would grind us under its heel for profit.

In the face of this darkness, we cannot lose hope. There are enough of us. When the media won’t sound the alarm, we must.

Listen, silence is shouting. Amplify its cry.

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June 14 is the next nationwide protest with a rally for veterans on June 6 and hundreds of protests until then. Get more information HERE.

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