US: Michael Cohen’s Guilty Plea? ‘Nothing To See Here’

After the Manafort and Cohen news dropped, many wondered how Trump would respond. By the following morning, a messaging strategy seemed to coalesce. (Nick Lehr/The Conversation via Reuters and AP Photo)

On the afternoon of Aug. 21, when news of Paul Manafort’s conviction and Michael Cohen’s plea deal emerged within hours of one another, the social media channels of Donald Trump’s most vociferous supporters went dark.

The statements of Cohen, Trump’s longtime personal attorney, seemed damaging.
Cohen pleaded guilty to federal charges of campaign finance violations and swore, under oath, that he acted to prevent “information that would be harmful to the candidate and to the campaign” from reaching the public for the “principal purpose of influencing the election.” In confessing to the federal crimes Cohen also implicated his client, Trump, by saying he committed these crimes at the behest of “a candidate for federal office.”

As a New York Times analysis put it, Cohen’s statement in court “carried echoes of President Richard M. Nixon, who was named an ‘unindicted co-conspirator’ in the special prosecutor’s investigation of Watergate.”

Because of the seriousness of Cohen’s plea, the question wasn’t if Trump and his surrogates would respond, but when.

When someone attacks me, I always attack back...except 100x more. This has nothing to do with a tirade but rather, a way of life!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 11, 2012

Trump and his team reportedly “spent hours working on a statement” to attempt to clear Trump’s name and reject the “unindicted co-conspirator” label. By the following morning, a messaging strategy seemed to coalesce.

As a professor of rhetoric and argumentation who is finishing a book about Trump’s presidential campaign, I paid close attention to what Trump’s camp decided to say in his defense.

“Apologia” – an Ancient Greek term for the speech of self-defense – can assume a few well-known forms. They include: denial (“I didn’t do it”), differentiation (“It wasn’t what you think, it was something else”), bolstering (“Important people approve of what I did, so you should, too”) and transcendence (“Let’s focus on what is really important here – the big picture”).

Trump’s apologia has been primarily based upon denial and differentiation. He wants to persuade Americans that he did nothing wrong and that things are not what they appear to be.

To buttress this, his defenders relied upon what rhetoric scholars call “points of stasis,” which are questions that debaters since Aristotle have used to develop their most persuasive appeals.

Points of stasis deal with four questions: What happened? How should we understand it? How should we value it? What should we do about it?

In coming up with answers to these questions, debaters will attempt to frame what happened, influence how we should understand it, dictate how we should value it and outline what should be done about it.

When paired with apologia, points of stasis can be used to try to wiggle out of difficult situations. They can help an audience understand new information from the perspective of your side and mitigate damaging charges.

For example, Trump’s lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, attempted to explain what happened when he released a statement denying that Trump was implicated at all in the Cohen matter. “There is no allegation of any wrongdoing against the President in the government’s charges against Mr. Cohen,” it read, framing the events in a way that vindicated Trump from any wrongdoing.

But, you might wonder, if Trump wasn’t specifically implicated in Cohen’s guilty plea, then how should we understand what happened? Didn’t hush money still get paid to help the campaign?

To shape how observers might make sense of this, lawyer Alan Dershowitz, the author of the book “The Case Against Impeaching Trump,” appeared on CNN, “Tucker Carlson Tonight” and “Fox and Friends” to argue that everyone commits campaign finance violations – and that campaign finance rules are incomprehensible anyway.

In other words, viewers should realize that this is something really common in politics – an easy mistake to make that shouldn’t be thought of as a big deal.

According to Dershowitz, campaign finance violations are trivial infractions like jaywalking. And if hush money were paid, while it’s not exactly noble behavior, it isn’t a crime. Little value, he seems to be saying, should attributed to the crimes – if they were committed at all.

Furthermore, there’s not much that can even be done about it, they say. A sitting president cannot be indicted (and therefore audiences and courts do not get to judge). And even if it were crime, it isn’t a “high crime,” so it isn’t an impeachable offense.

⏩ To recap the points of stasis:

• What happened? There’s no allegation of wrongdoing by the president in the government’s charges.
• How should we understand Cohen’s guilty plea? It’s a mere campaign finance violation, which everyone commits.
• What sort of stock should we put into this crime? It’s like jaywalking.
• What if Trump paid hush money? Not great, but not illegal.
• What can be done about it? Nothing. The president can’t be indicted.

In the days since Cohen’s plea deal, these points of stasis have been repeated to shore up Trump’s denial of wrongdoing and differentiate campaign finance violations from “high crimes and misdemeanors,” the phrase in the Constitution that describes impeachable offenses.

.@Scaramucci: "What's clear is that you can't indict a sitting president." #TheStory pic.twitter.com/4lkGDEN7IL

— Fox News (@FoxNews) August 21, 2018

Of course, this isn’t playing out in a courtroom or in the Athenian Agora. Instead, it’s playing out in the court of public opinion. Impeachment is a political process, and it seems to hinge on whether enough voters get fully behind the effort.

In this sense, one bolstering strategy may resound the most. Trump’s base is so firmly in his camp, some of his backers in the media have argued, that this news won’t hurt Trump’s political standing.

It doesn’t really matter if he is an unindicted co-conspirator, they say – because his supporters won’t care.

Trump may have enough support for now to stay afloat. How long he can tread water is unclear.

About Today's Contributor:
Jennifer Mercieca, Associate Professor of Communication, Texas A&M University

This article was originally published on The Conversation. 

Bonus Picture:

Will Donald Trump need to pardon himself after all? (Image from Trumpton Facebook Page via LoupDargent.info)

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New Entertainment Platform Offers Exclusive Behind-the-Scenes Look at Famous Personalities

Four time World Series Champion Darryl Strawberry graces the cover of "Beyond The Spotlights"

Beyond the Spotlights recently launched an online multimedia magazine showcasing a variety of unique, exclusive access stories, interviews and photo shoots of featured celebrities. 

The inaugural Summer 2018 editions of Beyond the Spotlights contain interviews and photo shoots with media personality Leeann Tweeden, athlete Darryl Strawberry, YouTube Red Series "Cobra Kai" actor Xolo Maridueña and "Days of Our Lives" actress Victoria Konefal.

With twice weekly releases, Beyond the Spotlights seeks out interesting talent, giving new viewers and long-time fans a glimpse into the private worlds of fascinating celebrities of all types. 

Leeann Tweeden 
Tweeden recently made world-wide headlines when she went public with her story of sexual assault at the hands of Senator Al Franken. The subsequent public scandal and media attention led to the resignation of a United States Senator and added a great deal of momentum to the #MeToo movement. 

Tweeden sat down with Beyond the Spotlights to talk about her life after the scandalous headlines, including dealing with the backlash and criticism, ignoring Twitter, and the support she received from some big-name Hollywood celebrities.

Darryl Strawberry 
Four-time World Series Champion and 8-time MLB All-Star, Darryl Strawberry's baseball career unfortunately ended early due to multiple suspensions for drug violations. As it turns out, Strawberry's greatest challenge was not the opposing pitchers on the baseball field, but rather, facing down addiction. 

He talks about his new book, "Don't Give Up On Me: Shedding Light On Addiction," and his support of the faith-based Darryl Strawberry Recovery Centers.

Xolo Maridueña 
The breakout star of YouTube Red's new series, "Cobra Kai," Maridueña has become the latest exciting addition to the "Karate Kid" franchise. Maridueña talks about juggling karate lessons and class, as well as his love of the LA Dodgers and his goals as a future screenwriter. 

The young actor also manages to keep perspective, citing his family as one of his most important sources of strength and resolve.

Victoria Konefal 
Playing Ciara Brady on NBC's Emmy-winning "Days of Our Lives," Konefal opens up about funny pick-up lines, fashion, her professional and personal likes and dislikes, as well as her obsession with dogs. 

Konefal is just as candid while discussing the stresses of her fast-paced career as well as her passions as an environmentally conscious actress.

Fearless All-American Woman Leeann Tweeden looking red hot on the cover of "Beyond The Spotlights"

"Due to the closure of many popular print publications (e.g. Interview, Details, Teen Vogue, Complex, Nylon, Self, etc.) and the public's thirst for new and constant content, Beyond The Spotlights will be based entirely online — updated regularly with new articles and interviews. The website is optimized for mobile use, but its beautiful photography and videos stand out on larger tablet and desktop formats as well. Take a look. We're proud of our first cast of celebrity exclusives," said Creative Director Mario Barberio.

SOURCE: Beyond the Spotlights

Despite Donald Trump's Numerous Tweets And Rants Against MSM, Survey Shows That More Americans Trust The Media Than They Did Last Year

Finally some good news: Trust in news is up, especially for local media (Image via The Poynter Institute)

There's good news for journalists: three-quarters of Americans trust their local TV news and local newspapers. Trust is also on the rise for all types of news, despite increased attacks on the credibility of the American press by President Donald Trump and others.

These findings come from The Poynter Institute's second Media Trust Survey, released today. The research found 54 percent of Americans have "a great deal" or "a fair amount" of trust and confidence in the media, a five-point increase from Poynter's first Media Trust Survey published in December 2017.

Other key findings include:

• 76% of Americans trust local television news
• 73% trust local newspapers
• 59% trust national newspapers
• 55% trust national network news
• 47% trust online-only news outlets

One reason trust in local news is significantly higher than in other news outlets is because Americans across the political spectrum trust it. According to the study's authors — Jason Reifler of University of Exeter, Brendan Nyhan of the University of Michigan and Andrew Guess of Princeton University — this pattern is driven by Republicans and independents who are otherwise more distrustful of the media than Democrats:

• 23% of Republicans trust news media overall, up four points since 2017
• 71% of Republicans trust local TV news
• 62% of Republicans trust local newspapers
• 86% of Democrats trust news media overall, up 12 points since 2017
• 88% of Democrats trust local TV news
• 88% of Democrats trust local newspapers

The divide in attitudes toward local versus national news is especially pronounced among Republicans. There is a 43-point difference between Republicans' trust in local and national TV news and a 33-point difference between their trust in local and national newspapers.

"Local journalism connects with people where they live and in ways that are relevant to their daily lives," Poynter President Neil Brown said. "Trust comes when there is a relationship, and for lots of people, even those with great interest in national affairs, the more personal relationship is with their local news source."

In December, Poynter's most heralded finding was that 44 percent of Americans believe news media frequently makes up stories about Trump. Eight months later, it's down slightly to 42 percent, though the 2018 question asked about fabricating stories in general.

When asked about whether the government should have the power to remove broadcast licenses from news organizations it says publishes fabricated stories, only 36 percent of Trump supporters upheld these ideas. Last year, 42 percent of Trump supporters thought the government should be able to stop a news media outlet from publishing a story that government officials say is biased or inaccurate.

"It's clear American citizens want to trust their news providers. But they need to feel as if the journalists reporting the news know them and understand them," said Poynter Senior Vice President Kelly McBride. "This is a big opportunity for news leaders to reach out to their audience. Be transparent about what you're doing and why, how you make decisions. Overcommunicate to the audience, invite them into your process. It goes a long way toward building trust."

⏩ Poynter's second annual Media Trust Survey interviewed a national sample of 2,000 Americans in July 2018. It was conducted by YouGov, a global public opinion and polling company, and funded by The Poynter Institute and Craig Newmark Philanthropies.

About The Poynter Institute: 
The Poynter Institute for Media Studies is a global leader in journalism education and a strategy center that stands for uncompromising excellence in journalism, media and 21st-century public discourse. 

Poynter faculty teach seminars and workshops at the Institute in St. Petersburg, Florida, and at conferences and organizational sites around the world. Its e-learning division, News University, newsu.org, offers the world's largest online journalism curriculum in seven languages, with relevant interactive courses and over 150,000 registered users in dozens of countries. 

The Institute's website, poynter.org, produces 24-hour coverage about media, ethics, technology and the business of news. The world's top journalists and media innovators come to Poynter to learn and teach new generations of reporters, storytellers, media inventors, designers, visual journalists, documentarians and broadcast producers. 

⏩ This work builds public awareness about journalism, media, the First Amendment and protects discourse that serves democracy and the public good.

SOURCE: The Poynter Institute

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Mr Trump and The Media (Image from Trumpton Facebook Page via LoupDargent.info)

An Anthem For A New Generation: "Old MacDonald Had a Farm" Gets A Makeover In Time For Women's Equality Day With The Launch Of "She-I-O"

Land O'Lakes introduces “She-I-O,” a rousing anthem for a new generation that celebrates inclusion and champions women, just in time for Women’s Equality Day, August 26.

History was rewritten as "herstory" today as a classic children's song got a makeover for the modern age. Vocal powerhouse and soul songstress Maggie Rose and Grammy Award-winning Warner/Chappell songwriter Liz Rose collaborated to reimagine the song "Old MacDonald Had a Farm," introducing "She-I-O," a rousing anthem for a new generation that celebrates inclusion and champions women, just in time for Women's Equality Day, August 26.

⏩ "She-I-O" is the cornerstone of the new All Together Better initiative from Land O'Lakes, the farmer-owned cooperative that's owned and run by 1,791 farmers, many of whom are women. Land O'Lakes wanted to give a voice to the untold stories of the women who work hard to feed this nation.

Land O'Lakes pooled the talents of Americana-country-rock singer Maggie Rose and the grand dame of songwriting, Liz Rose, for the remake of "Old MacDonald Had a Farm." 

Some of Liz's many songwriting credits include Taylor Swift's "Fearless," Little Big Town's "Girl Crush," Carrie Underwood's "Cry Pretty" and Kenny Chesney's "Better Boat."

"'She-I-O' serves as a rallying cry for women breaking stereotypes, not just in dairy farming, but in every industry," said Maggie Rose.  "I was thrilled to work with Liz Rose to rewrite the lyrics to the iconic 'Old MacDonald' song, turning it into an homage to America's hardworking women. There's beauty and strength in letting our voices be heard.

I'm passionate about the message at the forefront of 'She-I-O,' which celebrates the power of inclusivity and the role women play in modern farming. My husband's family owns a cattle ranch in Missouri, so I've had a glimpse into what goes into putting food on our tables. Like so many of us, I grew up singing 'Old MacDonald' when I was young," said Maggie Rose. "Where you hear the lines 'on his farm' and 'he had a cow,' it's nice to finally add in the other half of the population." 

But make no mistake, "She-I-O" isn't the stuff of nursery rhymes. It's an eloquent narrative for a new generation. The lyrics speak for themselves:

You know Old MacDonald had a daughter
She-I-She-I-O 
Look what she does with what he taught her 
She-I-She-I-O
She's got the future in her hands 
She's proud her roots are where she stands

Vocal powerhouse and soul songstress Maggie Rose partners with Land O'Lakes to reimagine the iconic song “Old MacDonald Had a Farm."

"She-I-O," which debuted on SoundCloud and will be available on iTunes beginning August 24, comes to life in a compelling music video, now streaming on Vevo and YouTube, which was directed by dynamic duo Charlotte Fassler and Dani Girdwood of Similar But Different. Authenticity was key, which is why the video features the Dotterer sisters, their cousins and their daughters, just a few of the many real-life female farmers from the Land O'Lakes farmer-owned cooperative. 

Also debuting as part of the All Together Better initiative is a three-part documentary series called In Their Words, produced by The Female Farmer Project, which chronicles the personal stories of some of these Land O'Lakes farmers. With women comprising approximately one-third of all U.S. farmers, In Their Words was created to celebrate these fearless females and create a dialogue around the importance of their role in the food chain. 

⏩ The series is available for viewing here 

For the All Together Better initiative, Land O'Lakes and the Land O'Lakes Foundation have also partnered with Feeding America to raise awareness around the issue of food insecurity. To honor the hardworking farmers who feed us all, Land O'Lakes will donate $1* to Feeding America for every share, tag or comment on any of the "She-I-O" music video content on Land O'Lakes social channels, as well as the "She-I-O" music track, available on SoundCloud and iTunes, up to $100,000. [*$1 helps provide at least 10 meals secured by Feeding America on behalf of local member food banks.]

⏩ Consumers are also encouraged to use the hashtag #AllTogetherBetter to add their voice to the cause.

"We are excited to be rewriting history and championing female farmers and women in all industries who are breaking glass ceilings and changing stereotypes," said Anna Squibb, senior manager, integrated marketing, dairy foods retail at Land O'Lakes. "All Together Better was built on the premise of inclusion, one of the core values at Land O'Lakes. In an increasingly divided world, we want to be a unifying force, and Women's Equality Day is the perfect moment in time to spotlight that intention. We're honored to work with Maggie Rose and Liz Rose, both of whom embody the boldness, strength and grit reflective of the female farmers who make up the Land O'Lakes cooperative."

Maggie Rose has been named to YouTube's Emerging Artist and Artist in Residence 2018 programs, and Pandora named her an Artist to Watch 2018. Maggie's creative breadth and versatility sparked the first-ever partnership between Prescription Songs and Sea Gayle Music, with the two companies signing a joint-venture publishing agreement with Maggie. 

Her highly anticipated album Change the Whole Thing drops to AAA radio in mid-August, and is released September 21, with a corresponding tour recently announced. 

⏩ For more information about Maggie Rose, the album and tour dates, visit maggierosemusic.com

All Together Better is a multichannel campaign created by mostly female teams at The Martin Agency and Land O'Lakes that also includes :30 and :60 TV spots, print executions and custom digital content. Consumers are encouraged to use #AllTogetherBetter as a way to connect their own lives to the Land O'Lakes story. 

⏩ For more information, please visit landolakes.com/who-we-are.

The Video:

About Feeding America:

Feeding America is the largest hunger-relief organization in the United States. Through a network of 200 food banks and 60,000 food pantries and meal programs, they provide meals to more than 46 million people each year. 

Feeding America also supports programs that prevent food waste and improve food security among the people we serve; educates the public about the problem of hunger; and advocates for legislation that protects people from going hungry. Individuals, charities, businesses and government all have a role in ending hunger. 

Donate. Volunteer. Advocate. Educate. Together we can solve hunger.

SOURCE: Land O'Lakes, Inc.

US: Fathom Events Celebrates 10th Anniversary of Twilight in Movie Theaters Nationwide for Two Days Only in "Fathom Spotlight" Series

Fathom Events Celebrates 10th Anniversary of Twilight

When Bella Swan and Edward Cullen first sat next to each other in biology class, an entire generation of moviegoers simultaneously swooned and the young-adult vampire romance based on the best-selling Twilight novel by Stephenie Meyer, became a worldwide cinematic phenomenon. 

To celebrate the film's 10th anniversary Fathom Events and Lionsgate's Summit Entertainment are inviting fans to return to Forks, Washington, when Twilight comes back to movie theaters nationwide this October. 

This unforgettable experience will also treat fans to an introduction by director Catherine Hardwicke and an exclusive sneak peek of the brand-new special feature "Twilight Tour…10 Years Later," from the upcoming Twilight 4K Ultra HD home entertainment release, available October 23, 2018. 

Twilight is the first title of the "Fathom Spotlight" series. This lineup will showcase contemporary blockbusters, modern classics and fan-favorite films back on the big screen including newly enhanced digital versions.

Twilight will play in more than 450 movie theaters nationwide Sunday, October 21, and Tuesday, October 23, at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. (local time).  

⏩ Tickets for the 10th-anniversary screenings can be purchased online at FathomEvents.com or at participating theater box offices.

With its initial release, Twilight leaped off the pages of Meyer's best-selling novel to become one of 2008's biggest box-office hits – and one of the highest-grossing female-directed films of all-time. 

The Twilight Saga films, released by Lionsgate's Summit Entertainment, grossed over $3 billion at the global box office, and the Twilight Saga books sold over 100 million copies around the world. 

In Twilight, Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson star as the endearing Bella Swan and the mysterious, handsome vampire Edward Cullen. As their worlds and hearts collide, Edward must battle the bloodlust raging inside him as well as a coterie of undead, led by the nefarious James Witherdale (Cam Gigandet), that would make Bella their prey. 

⏩ Twilight also stars Billy Burke, Peter Facinelli, Nikki Reed, Jackson Rathbone, Taylor Lautner, Kellan Lutz and Anna Kendrick.

Twilight went on to win numerous awards at the 2009 MTV Movie Awards, including Best Movie, Best Female Performance (Stewart), Breakthrough Performance – Male (Pattinson), Best Kiss (Stewart and Pattinson), and Best Fight (Pattinson vs. Gigandet). 

Taylor Lautner was also nominated for Breakthrough Performance – Male, and the pop-rock band Paramore also received a Best Song from a Movie nomination for their song, "Decode."

"Twilight was a once-in-a-generation supernatural love story that became a pop-culture turning point for teens and teens-at-heart," said Tom Lucas, Fathom Events VP of Studio Relations.  "Fathom Events is thrilled to be celebrating the movie's 10th anniversary with Summit Entertainment by presenting it on the big screen this October."

⏩ In addition to this two day only theatrical event, fans can relive the action, adventure, and immortal love story at home with the release of Twilight on 4K Ultra HD Combo Pack (plus Blu-ray and Digital) and all five Twilight Saga films with new collectible artwork on Blu-ray Combo Pack (plus DVD and Digital) on October 23 from Lionsgate's Summit Entertainment.

Fathom Events Celebrates 10th Anniversary of Twilight in Movie Theaters Nationwide for Two Days Only in "Fathom Spotlight" Series

More About Twilight:
(Via Fathom Events)

Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) doesn't expect much when she moves to the small town of Forks, Washington, until she meets the mysterious and handsome Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) - a boy who's hiding a dark secret: he's a vampire. As their worlds and hearts collide, Edward must battle the bloodlust raging inside him as well as a coterie of undead that would make Bella their prey. 

Based on the #1 New York Times best-selling sensation by Stephenie Meyer, Twilight adds a dangerous twist to the classic story of star-crossed lovers.

SOURCE: Fathom Events

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US: Welcome Back to 'Jurassic Park': The Original Steven Spielberg Classic Returns to Movie Theaters Nationwide for Three Days Only

Celebrate the 25th anniversary as it roars back to cinemas this September!

Few films have excited a generation of moviegoers as much as Steven Spielberg's "Jurassic Park." In honor of its 25th anniversary, Fathom Events and Universal Pictures are bringing Spielberg's revolutionary 1993 action-adventure film back to movie theaters nationwide this September.

"Jurassic Park" will play in more than 500 movie theaters across the U.S. on Sunday, September 16, at 2:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. (local time); and at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, September 18, and Wednesday, September 19. 

⏩ Tickets to "Jurassic Park" screenings can be purchased online at FathomEvents.com or at participating theater box offices.

Screenings of "Jurassic Park" will be accompanied by a 17-minute "remake" of the movie created by fans around the world, who showcase both their passion for the prehistoric adventure and their boundless ingenuity, making this event a celebration both of the film and its legion of fans.

A defining pop-culture milestone of the 1990s, "Jurassic Park" is based on the best-selling novel by Michael Crichton, with a screenplay by Crichton and David Koepp. The film utilized digital visual effects in ways moviegoers had never seen before. Actors Sam Neill and Laura Dern star as paleontologists Alan Grant and Ellie Sattler, who, along with mathematician Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum) are selected to tour an island theme park populated by cloned dinosaurs created from prehistoric DNA. While the park's mastermind, billionaire John Hammond (Richard Attenborough), assures everyone that the facility is safe, they quickly find out otherwise when the predators break free and go on the hunt.

"Jurassic Park" also stars Ariana Richards, Joseph Mazzello, Wayne Knight, Martin Ferrero, BD Wong, Bob Peck and Samuel L. Jackson. Winner of three Academy Awards – including Best Sound Effects, Best Sound Editing and Best Visual Effects the film was largely shot on location in Kauai, Hawaii, and features an iconic musical score by composer John Williams.

"'Jurassic Park' is a watershed achievement, a grand adventure, and a cinematic event all rolled into one," said Tom Lucas, Fathom Events VP of Studio Relations.  "Fathom Events is tremendously proud to work with Universal Pictures to celebrate the movie's quarter-century milestone by presenting it, once again, on the big screen."

SOURCE: Fathom Events

The Trailer:

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Donald Trump's Space Force Plans Analysed By A Sci-Fi Expert

(Marc Ward/Shutterstock.com)

The US leadership has plans to introduce a “US Space Force” by 2020. Already announced by president Donald Trump in June, US vice president Mike Pence outlined further details of the plan at a press conference on August 9. The Space Force, he said, would consist of an elite corps of soldiers trained to fight in space, and a space command that would design military strategies for warfare beyond the atmosphere.

Much acrimony and ridicule has ensued, with debates over what such a force could or could not do; the only certainty being that it will cost billions of dollars. Seasoned watchers of both US politics and US science fiction will have had the uncanny feeling, though, of having seen this all before.

The rhetoric of both Pence and Trump, referring respectively to “the boundless expanse of space” and the necessity for “American dominance”, is inherently science-fictional, but of a particularly American kind. It is not the cooperatist vision of Soviet science fiction, nor the ramshackled approach of British sci-fi (take Doctor Who), and certainly not the Afrofuturist marriage of esoteric technology and indigenous folklore, seen most recently in Ava DuVernay’s A Wrinkle in Time.

An American fiction 
Instead, it is the projection of the values of Manifest Destiny (that the settler population has an inalienable right to the uncharted lands) into outer space. Not for nothing did Trump’s 2020 reelection campaign manager, Brad Parscale, write that Space Force would be “a groundbreaking endeavor for America and the final frontier”.

As film and media studies expert, Constance Penley, observed in her 1997 book, NASA/Trek, the Cold War politics of the Space Race dovetailed beautifully with the frontier vision of Gene Roddenberry’s Star Trek. This is particularly true of the pioneer spirit of (to paraphrase the original series’ opening words) exploring “strange new worlds”, seeking “out new life and new civilisations”, and “boldly” going “where no man has gone before”.

Roddenberry himself was in a lineage of writers from Edgar Rice Burroughs to Ray Bradbury who, with varying degrees of scepticism, projected frontier values into outer space (most typically, onto the surface of Mars). And as historian Frederic Krome has shown, future war stories published in the US pulps between 1914 and 1945 fed into the cultural and military thinking of how to plan for future conflicts.

Perhaps most bizarrely, the mission to capture Saddam Hussein during the Iraq War was named after John Milius’s post-apocalyptic teen movie, Red Dawn (1984).

Indeed, the Strategic Defence Initiative (SDI), envisaged by president Ronald Reagan in 1983, not only became known as “Star Wars”, but its rhetoric was also derived from science fiction writers such as Ben Bova and Jerry Pournelle. SDI’s vision of a circling belt of laser-armed satellites, protecting the US from Soviet attack, chimed perfectly with Pournelle’s dream, and with that of other science fiction writers such as Robert Heinlein and Larry Niven – an American renaissance through the militarisation and colonisation of space.

Space force rebooted 
The current rhetoric of Pence and Trump, in announcing their Space Force, almost exactly echoes the rhetoric of SDI and its then supporters. Both groups posit a pattern of US military decline, under the alleged negligence of previous administrations, in which space, the “natural” home of the US following the moon landings, has been left exposed to foreign aggressors. According to them, it is their enemies, not the US, who have militarised space. And now, they argue, only a show of strength can make space safe again for US democracy.

In this way, the ratcheting-up of an arms race in space is glossed over by a utopian vision, in which the US is regalvanised by dreams of expansion into space – see, for example, the proposed mission to Mars.

There has been genuine concern since 2007, when China shot down one of its own satellites. But to imply that space has only now begun to be militarised glosses over the steady militarisation of space since the 1960s, while even supporters of the proposal suggest a cyber-hacking force is more necessary.

Instead, the proposal for an elite corps of specialised soldiers and strategists sounds more like Heinlein’s controversial novel of a fully militarised society, Starship Troopers (1959), in which humans are embroiled in a seemingly endless war against the utterly alien “Bugs”. There are echoes too of E E Smith’s interstellar police force, Galactic Patrol (1937), and even the BBC’s more low-key Star Cops (1987), glumly policing off-world mining colonies in the outer solar system. Of course, the proposal may never take flight – it would still require an Act of Congress – so these more hyperbolic fears and desires may need to be momentarily put aside.


Instead, what we can deduce from the proposal is that we are firmly in the logic of the reboot, that much loved tactic of longrunning movie franchises. But, as science fiction scholar Gerry Canavan has argued, the reboot “can show us a story, but can’t tell us a plot”. Rather than an original and inspiring vision of space exploration, what we have instead here is a meaningless reiteration of past rhetoric that may, quite literally, go nowhere.

About Today's Contributor:
Paul March-Russell, Lecturer in Comparative Literature, University of Kent

This article was originally published on The Conversation.