By William K. Black
June 6, 2017 Bloomington, MN
Rupert Murdoch controls the Wall Street Journal and Fox News. Even before he acquired the WSJ its editorial board was known for its members’ ultra-right wing fervor. The acquisition intensified that fervor. The editorial board’s fervor has infected the WSJ’s news pages. That is the context essential to understanding the significance of its June 6, 2017 editorial eviscerating President Donald Trump. They entitled their editorial “The Buck Stops Everywhere Else.” Here is the most damning paragraph. .
If this pattern continues, Mr. Trump may find himself running an Administration with no one but his family and the Breitbart staff. People of talent and integrity won’t work for a boss who undermines them in public without thinking about the consequences. And whatever happened to the buck stops here?
In addition to the obvious slam, consider several aspects of the content, tone, and timing of the editorial. They published it on the anniversary of D-Day, a day of courage and personal responsibility. Dwight D. Eisenhower, the Allied commander of the invasion and future president of the United States, took a large gamble on the weather clearing enough to allow the invasion to occur. The editorial, appropriately, given tight word count limits, did not explain what so many adult Americans recall – the last sentence of Eisenhower’s statement to the public in the event the invasion failed. He personally drafted the statement.
