The Associated Press is an international news organization. it has refused to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the “Gulf of America,” as ordered by Trump.
In retaliation for refusing to adopt Trump’s name change, the AP reporters have been excluded from White House press conferences and barred from riding with other members of the press on Trump’s Air Force One.
Today, the AP sued the Trump administration.
The Associated Press filed a lawsuit on Friday against top White House officials, accusing them of violating the First and Fifth Amendments by denying A.P. reporters access to press events in retaliation for references to the Gulf of Mexico in its articles.
The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. It named as defendants Taylor Budowich, the White House deputy chief of staff; Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary; and Susie Wiles, the White House chief of staff.
In the complaint, The A.P. said that the White House had ordered it to use certain words in its reporting and that it was suing “to vindicate its rights to the editorial independence guaranteed by the United States Constitution and to prevent the executive branch from coercing journalists to report the news using only government-approved language.”
The lawsuit centers on The A.P.’s decision to continue referring to the Gulf of Mexico in its articles, rather than the Gulf of America, as the body of water was decreed by President Trump in an executive order on Jan. 20
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Idiocracy but not funny
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Back when Stephen Colbert had his show, The Colbert Report, he came up with “The Gulf of America.” That was funny in 2010 because it’s so absurd, but the reality of this whole thing is indeed idiotic.
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That was such a good show. I didn’t think he could keep it up as long as he did.
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This reminds me of a Don Novello bit, in one of his Lazlo Toth letters to President Carter, in which he proposes to carve a canal across the U.S.-Mexican border, call it the American Canal, and push the thin strip of land out to sea to serve as a homeland for Palestinians.
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That’s hilarious FLERP! I wasn’t familiar with the Lazlo Toth letters until now, but I do remember Don Novello as Father Guido Sarducci.
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They’re pretty funny.
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I’m rooting for the AP to end up with an out of court settlement that’s more than the one FOX fake NEWS got for repeating FELON47’s BIG lies about the 2020 election.
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They are exactly right about the free speech element. Yet no one seems to be pointing out that the name change also implies a quasi-annexation of territory as well. The rename is essentially an expansion of U.S. territory which is in line with the puppet’s pro-Putin stance. His master’s expansionist perfidy in Ukraine seems more justified when we are “expanding” as well.
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Well, I was in the middle of typing a comment last night on this very important post when I realized that our Sheepdog was chewing on a USB cord left at my feet.
(‘Hmmm, what is that chewing noise? Must be a bone….”)
Nope!
Anyhoo, whatever semi-profound thought that was flying out of my fingers and zipping towards this blog went RIGHT OUT OF MY BRAIN when I realized what Moon the dog was actually doing.
He’s a good guy but he’s jealous of this computer, and I suppose that means all of you.
I wouldn’t have minded the USB connector being chomped on except it was for the web cam I use for meetings with the county Democratic Committee. That’s the same camera I had to buy back during those first scary, dark days of the pandemic when zoom meetings were something new and a lifeline.
So, yeah, Moon was in the dog house so to speak. But he’s back this morning, better than ever.
If only a pack of big, goofy, friendly doggies could be let loose in the White House to chew on cords and lick faces and eat Melania’s weirdo hat from the inauguration and poop in front of the Resolute Desk…..maybe there’d be an ounce of humanity in that pit of a place, that immoral abyss that was once the home of Lincoln, FDR and Carter -men of great integrity, wisdom, and humor.
And, my thoughts from last night about the AP and the Gulf of Mexico? Who knows?
Go AP! That’s what Moon and I’ve got this morning.
And, here’s hoping for a better weekend and some warmer days for all of you.
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I hope you noticed that Trump sent the Resolute Desk to be refinished because Elon Musk’s little X picked his nose and wiped a booger on the desk.
If that happened in our houses, we would have cleaned it up. But Trump send the entire desk to be refinished.
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No, I just had to look up that story.
Things just keep getting weirder and weirder….
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Love, love, love your posts, John! Thanks for a great laugh.
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The President is a civil servant in the employ of the American People. Press briefings are an public service of that Office and members the Press are entitled to equal service under the Law.
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Maybe Trump will change the Atlantic Ocean to the East American Ocean and the Pacific Ocean to the West American Ocean.
If I sent that suggestion to my senators and representative, they’d probably like it.
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A Rhode Island official wants to rename the Atlantic Ocean as “the Rhode Island Sea.”
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I understand that to be a mockery of Trump. I also recall somebody in Illinois mocking Trump by saying Lake Michigan should be renamed Lake Illinois.
Recalling how upset he became with Tim Walz called him “weird,” making fun of Trump might be at least one good tactic.
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The Rhode Island Sea. That’s freaking hilarious!
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In the near future, parody will become impossible because events and leaders will so superbly parody themselves.
–Poet and Critic Randall Jarrell, writing in the 1970s.
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