Where is the remedy for this mess? Well now, the courts seem to be turning to a balance. Courts rendering verdicts against those full of malice over the airwaves are losing millions to the plaintiffs.
I am 86, an Army Veteran, with 2 older brothers buried in Arlington Cemetery. Those two fought for our flag and the U.S. Constitution, not for a wannabee autocrat. Right now, we have over 30 million Americans seemingly giving up on that very U.S. Constitution and leaning toward autocracy.
As I've said in the past, both Dwight Eisenhower and Ronald Reagan were dedicated to overcoming all forms of dictatorships. Those two fought especially hard against Russian totalitarianism. All Presidents since Harry Truman have joined in the fight to overcome dictatorships.
How could so many voters now be against a duly elected Joe Biden? Joe Biden, a public servant his entire adult life. A man of integrity, spirituality, grit and performance. His standing and successes are unquestionable. He served 8 years as Vice President under Barack Obama. Two terms where not a single political appointee or associate was convicted of a crime. What gives here? How is it possible that ex-President Donald Trump is within 2 or 3 points of Biden in many polls?
Let’s start with ex-President Donald Trump and the Republican Party. They huff and puff and make groundless claims against President Biden. Accusations which are just carping and innuendo gone amuck. Ex-President Donald Trump paid off a porn star, paid a $25 million-dollar settlement over a lawsuit filed by claimants from Trump University, he paid a $2 million fine for abusing his family foundation. During his Presidency, he passed a tax bill that made the rich richer and spun his 4-year Presidency into a 7.8 trillion-dollar deficit. This is the worst performance of any former President during his first term. Then he attempted to thwart a honest and fair Presidential bid by President Joe Biden. Trump stirred up his followers and is at a minimum partially to blame for the attack on the Capitol building on January 6, 2021. The BIG LIE remains one of the biggest lies ever offered in the political arena in the United States. The courts have rejected any legal wrongdoing in the 2020 Presidential election process in over 60 cases. Many of the judges were Trump appointees.
Finally, will someone please explain what successes will appear in a possible Donald Trump Presidential Library? Every President since Herbert Hoover (14 total) have had a Presidential library. Heretofore, it has been an honorable traditional event. What about now?
Please look at the above and carefully note that Fox News, on several of its nightly shows, do not report any of the above Donald Trump mishaps. But instead, they pour it on nightly all their exaggerations and disinformation over President Joe Biden. Their bizarre twisted world delivers so much baloney but they still have hooked a large audience. If Fox News should now turn to accuracy, there is a threat their audience will go elsewhere. A clearly elected President Biden has to pay the price by putting up with so much ridicule nightly by right-wing radio and television.
It is shameless and painful to see what it does to our political discourse. And for some to say all cable television is full of this dis-information is more baloney, that should be quickly ground up in the grinder of falsehoods. The Truth Bomb is this: MSNBC is thoughtful and thorough. They employ many attorneys as anchors for their shows and they employ many attorney commentators. None that I am aware of having been sued for falsehood or malicious loose lips.
Where is the remedy for this mess? Well now, the courts seem to be turning to a balance. Courts rendering verdicts against those full of malice over the airwaves are losing millions to the plaintiffs. This is a trend that has legs and will continue in the future. Fox News settled with Dominion Inc. for $787 million, rather than go to trial . Alex Jones was ordered by a court to pay $965 million in damages to the Sandy Hook families, which is now under appeal.
The Fairness Doctrine, which was passed in 1947 to oblige using fairness over the F.C.C., tv and radio airwaves, was abandoned in 1987, which gave open discussions on all political matters without foul lines. This caused the emergence of Rush Limbaugh and Newt Gingrich plus many more arriving on radio and television. Wide open criticism without proper foundation and truth became very common. It ended up making Fox News millions and millions selling soap and pillows. Strangely enough, Fox could not succeed in the United Kingdom or in Canada. Fox closed down Canadian operations in 2017 according to The Week magazine. It seems the U.K. and Canadian listeners could not be hooked by innuendo, disinformation and so much smoke with no fire.
I object to the tearing down of many of our Institutions by Republicans. I fully respect the military, the F.B.I., the C.I.A., our police at the Capitol building on January 6th, and all the police throughout the country. I respect the teaching profession, nurses, doctors, and the LGBTQ+ community. Throughout history our country has stood for science. Let us restore honor and decency to the above groups for their service and lend them more dignity.
I really do believe our country is, “a sweet land of liberty, ….. of thee I sing.”
We must pivot away from so much adverse passion and begin a rebirth of the message those 55 men in Philadelphia gave in 1787 as they constructed the U.S. Constitution. That document has sustained us for 240 years. Let’s embrace and praise it for another 240 years by honoring the rule of law and accountability.
editors note: this is a slightly updated version of this morning's release to include the Fox News Dominion settlement.
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