Bill began Thursday's No Spin News with the intensifying feud between President Trump and NBC News.  Citing three anonymous "officials," NBC reported that the president pushed for a tenfold increase in the nation's nuclear arsenal.  President Trump vehemently denied that notion. 

"The upshot of this," Bill stated, "is that President Trump says it never happened, that it's fake news.  And Secretary of Defense James Mattis also called NBC's report 'false and irresponsible.'  The NBC reporters were not in that room, but who told them that?  What was their agenda, why were they doing this?  What is important here is that we the people can no longer trust the news media.  The reporters should have called everyone who was in that meeting because you try to get both sides of the story and you should tell your audience who these 'officials' are." 

Bill welcomed Peter Boyer of the Weekly Standard, who has been following the very strained relationship between the White House and the national media.  "The press pretty much declared itself last year," Boyer said, "when the New York Times media reporter wrote a column saying that when you have a demagogue like Donald Trump, you can't cover him like you cover other politicians.  The editors of the Times took that column and printed it on the front page!  The coverage of President Trump has been overwhelming negative and the press has decided to cover this president in a fundamentally different way.  75% of the coverage is focused not on his policies, but on his tweets and his personality.  The president was right when he said very early on that the press is the opposition party." 

Boyer explained why all this matters to ordinary American citizens.  "If you're in the mainstream press reporting on tweets and rumors instead of policies, you might not know that the president said last night that he has rolled back more regulations than any other president has done in his entire tenure.  I haven't fact-checked that yet, but if it's true it's a big deal and it should be on the front page.  It gets crowded out by the latest rumor from the latest disgruntled person inside the government."  Bill concluded the conversation with a personal observation, saying, "The press lies about me every single day." 

Bill then reported that "Free Speech Week" is coming up on college campuses.  "This is a joke," he said, "because most college administrators don't want free speech.  The president of Middlebury College in Vermont says that he likes freedom of speech, but he believes it's 'quality of speech' that is protected.  But who decides the quality?  He does."  Bill buttressed his argument with the results of a new poll showing that 63% of liberal college students feel they should not be exposed to "intolerant ideas," and even 45% of self-identified conservative students agree. 

President Trump has signed an executive order allowing health insurance companies to sell their policies across state lines.  "That's a good thing," Bill opined, "because it will drive down costs.  But the left doesn't like it because it cuts the heart out of ObamaCare.  There are still questions about preexisting conditions, but this is a good step.  Competition will drive prices down and working Americans need relief." 

In their emails and message board posts, several Premium Members again lashed out at protesting National Football League players.  "Next week the NFL owners meet here in New York City," Bill responded, "and they'll come up with some kind of mealy-mouthed statement and this will all go away."  He also agreed with a PM who pointed out that no employee has the right to protest at his or her place of work.  "If you're working at a McDonald's," Bill said, "and you're flipping burgers and decide to say, 'Hey, I don't like this police brutality,' your manager will come over and ask you to stop.  It's the same thing in football stadiums." 

Finally, Bill explained why he has not been focused on the sordid case involving movie mogul Harvey Weinstein, who is accused of multiple sexual assaults and rapes.  "I have nothing to add," he said, "this is hysteria and it's all over every news outlet.  In cases like this, all Americans should want one thing – justice!"

Premium members seem to be pretty evenly split as to whether they prefer the studio or Bill's cozy home office, so the No Spin News will continue to alternate between both settings.  Call it the best of both worlds.  Or having your cake and eating it, too.  Just pick the cliché of your choice, and we'll see you next time.