Trump Shutting Down 159-Year-Old Stars And Stripes, Newspaper For Troops
The Pentagon sent a memo ordering Stars and Stripes, a newspaper for American troops that dates back to the Civil War and is funded by Congress, to begin preparations to “dissolve” by September 15, in what amounts to the latest attack by President Trump’s administration on the free press.
The memo, which was first reported in an opinion piece by USA Today, orders the publicist of the paper to draft a plan that “dissolves the Stars and Stripes” by Sept. 15, and offers a "specific timeline for vacating government owned/leased space worldwide.”
The newspaper — which had a circulation of 7 million in 2019 — operates inside the Department of Defense, but is editorially independent and delivered daily to troops on the front line, who sometimes don’t have access to quality internet service (the paper also operates online.)
The Pentagon’s 2021 fiscal year budget, released in February, included a proposal to cut the $15.5 million in funding allocated for Stars and Stripes; Defense Secretary Mark Esper called the move an effort to reallocate the money, which represents a fraction of the military’s $705 billion budget, “into higher-priority issues.”
A bipartisan group of senators have rebuked the proposal, including Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who sent a letter to the Pentagon last week calling to reinstate the funding.
The House included funding for the newspaper in an appropriations bill it passed this year, but the Senate has yet to act.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/jackbrewster/2020/09/04/trump-shutting-down-159-year-old-stars-and-stripes-newspaper-for-troops/?fbclid=IwAR1oViF4Zw9DkOmRUoByK1TCkDNTftAzbF-yeoL91ZMkJJeTV20N5zgtB14#237796054525
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I think it might need to be a bit wider, too....
Arrggg! I have no living family members any more who served (WW2).
But I've read snippets from it off and on when quoted in newspapers, or on line.
It's helpful and a lifeline for troops, especially overseas.
A way now to keep keep them in the dark?
Revenge for the fierce (and justified!) backlash about his losers & suckers soldiers comments!?!
