By [david carlson], June 11, 2025
In a week dominated by controversy, legal action, and chaos, it’s hard to discern what is real policy and what is just the latest distraction. As President Donald Trump orders federal troops into Los Angeles, commentators are increasingly asking: What is this actually about?
According to critics, the deployment itself may be a smokescreen. “The L.A. troop movement is meant to distract from Trump’s crackdown on the press,” says political analyst David Pakman. “But even that press crackdown is a distraction—from the fact that Trump’s so-called ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’ is collapsing in Congress. And that bill? Maybe it’s just another attempt to divert attention from the administration’s utter inaction on Ukraine and Russia.”
When everything feels like a distraction from something worse, the nation enters what some are calling a perpetual constitutional crisis.
Press Freedom Under Fire
At the center of this particular controversy is ABC News’ suspension of senior correspondent Terry Moran, following a since-deleted tweet in which Moran referred to Trump advisor Stephen Miller as “a world-class hater” and “spiritually nourished by bile.” While undeniably harsh, the comment has sparked intense debate about journalistic freedom in the Trump era.
White House Press Secretary Caroline Levitt appeared on Fox News to gloat about Moran’s suspension, calling the post “unacceptable and unhinged rhetoric.” Levitt’s gleeful tone struck a nerve with press freedom advocates, who see the administration’s pressure on legacy media as a calculated effort to suppress dissent.
“ABC was forced to do this,” Pakman argues, referencing the network’s vulnerability after a recent legal settlement tied to George Stephanopoulos. “Now they’re in a state of fear. This is what authoritarian crackdowns look like—the media begins to self-censor, and critical voices go silent.”
The White House has also reshaped access rules for journalists, denying entry to major outlets like the Associated Press and limiting coverage of Oval Office events. In one recent court ruling, a federal judge sided with the administration, declaring that press access to Air Force One is not a constitutional right—a major blow to traditional transparency norms.
Fuzzy Math and the Failing Bill
Meanwhile, the Trump administration continues to push what it calls a landmark economic package: a combination of tax restructuring, spending cuts, and sweeping tariffs. But the numbers don’t add up.
In a particularly baffling moment, Press Secretary Levitt claimed the plan would cut the deficit by $8 trillion over 10 years. Her math? A combination of $1.6 trillion in “mandatory savings,” $3 trillion in projected tariff revenue, and a wildly optimistic assumption of 3% GDP growth annually.
Economists have slammed the projections as “fiscal fantasy.” As Pakman puts it: “This is the fuzziest math I’ve ever heard. She’s combining spending cuts and imaginary tariff revenues, then topping it off with magical growth assumptions. It doesn’t work. It’s a scam.”
Independent analysts from the Congressional Budget Office and Brookings Institution have similarly warned that Trump’s tariff-heavy approach is more likely to stifle growth than accelerate it, especially as trade partners retaliate.
Distractions Become the Strategy
When the administration is criticized on one front, it simply opens another. Pakman summed it up with characteristic frustration: “I don’t know what’s a calculated distraction and what isn’t anymore. But I do know this: when there are this many constitutional crises at once, it becomes impossible to follow them all.”
This observation came on the same day as bizarre reports of a physical altercation between Elon Musk and Treasury Secretary Scott Besson. Trump himself confirmed Musk had “disrespected the presidency,” but White House aides later downplayed the incident.
Levitt told Fox’s Maria Bartiromo that it wasn’t quite a fistfight, though “there was definitely a disagreement.” The story has since faded, replaced by fresh headlines around the administration’s effort to gut Medicare through backdoor fraud, with the DOJ filing charges against three of the country’s largest Medicare brokers.
Where Does It End?
The week’s headlines capture a grim picture of American governance: soldiers deployed on domestic streets, journalists silenced, lawmakers gaslighted with fantasy math, billionaires brawling in secret rooms, and seniors exploited through corporate fraud.
Pakman ended his commentary with a note of warning, particularly for vulnerable populations:
“This is what happens when you let unqualified and immature people be in charge. It’s not just embarrassing—it’s terrifying.”
As California prepares its legal challenge to block the L.A. troop deployment and press advocates rally behind Terry Moran, the question isn’t whether there’s a single scandal worth attention—but whether the avalanche of outrages is too big for the public to process.
In a democracy, distraction itself can be a political weapon. And right now, Americans are under siege from all sides.
