> Recently, President Donald Trump banned three media organizations from the White House because of their negative coverage of him and his administration. “I mean, there’s something wrong with a country that can allow people to write purposely negative stories,” Trump told to a reporter who invoked the first amendment right to free speech. “Now, if they want to write them, that’s fine, but I don’t have to let them into my—into the People’s House.” ^h27580988 > He considered mobilizing the army to maintain public order only to be told by his defense minister, in no uncertain terms, that it was unthinkable that a German soldiers would be ordered to shoot at on German citizens in the streets of German cities. ^h27580990 > Elections are driven by political contingency, not historical inevitability. Prescience is only evidenced in retrospect ^h27580992 > Pundits are lining up with predictions, many suggesting a Democratic wave, despite President Trump’s efforts, including proposed $5,000 bribes, to skew the elections in his favor. ^h27580998