Columns, Media, Politics

“This is CNN” (and Modern Media): What CNN’s loss in the Florida Defamation Case Says About American Journalism

Below is my column in The Hill on the verdict against CNN in the defamation case brought by Navy veteran Zachary Young. The jury will now determine the amount of punitive damages in a case that speaks not only to CNN but the media at large. As the media readies for a second Trump term, there is every indication that news outlets like NBC are preparing to replicate the same advocacy journalism that characterized Trump’s first term. If so, the media will continue to speed along its own demise with many seeking their news from new media.

Here is the column:

“Your credibility with me … is about none.”

Those words to CNN counsel by Judge William Henry also clearly spoke for the Florida jury which, on Friday, awarded $5 million for Navy veteran Zachary Young and approved an additional amount, still to be determined, for punitive damages.

The CNN loss is only the latest in a series of media cases that have reversed decades of case law where the media largely prevailed under highly protective legal standards. It says a great deal about the state of modern journalism and its unrelenting efforts at self-destruction.

In “The Indispensable Right,” I discuss the radical shift in American journalism that occurred with the rejection of neutrality and objectivity in favor of advocacy journalism. J-schools now teach that objectivity is a dated concept. As former New York Times writer (and now Howard University journalism professor) Nikole Hannah-Jones has explained, “All journalism is activism.”

After interviewing more than 75 media leaders, Leonard Downie Jr., former Washington Post executive editor, and Andrew Heyward, former CBS News president, detailed how media leaders view neutrality and objectivity as dated concepts that inhibit social and political agendas.

The public’s response to this trend has been both predictable and pronounced. The famous “Let’s Go, Brandon” incident after a NASCAR race, after all, was more of a criticism of the media than of Joe Biden — a “Yankee Doodling” of the press for its distortion of facts.

Revenue and ratings for media outlets have plummeted, although there are other contributing factors. During the trial, CNN host Jake Tapper was challenged for his testimony that he “doesn’t pay attention to ratings.” That does not appear to be the case at the network, which is cratering and desperately trying to reverse the ratings plunge. CNN has reportedly lost half of its viewership, hitting lows not seen in three decades.

The jury clearly believed, as the network’s slogan claims, that “This is CNN.” That is probably the reason it will soon award punitive damages. However, this is not just CNN. The case itself highlighted everything wrong with modern media.

The segment aired on CNN’s “The Lead with Jake Tapper” on Nov. 11, 2021, and trashed Young in a story about Afghans being preyed upon by groups promising to get them out of the country amid the disastrous withdrawal of U.S. forces. Tapper told his audience ominously how CNN correspondent Alex Marquardt discovered that “Afghans trying to get out of the country face a black market full of promises, demands of exorbitant fees, and no guarantee of safety or success.”

Marquardt detailed how “desperate Afghans are being exploited” and need to pay “exorbitant, often impossible amounts” and then named Young and his company as examples.

The trial revealed internal messages from Marquardt that he wanted to “nail this Zachary Young motherf—–” and thought the story would be Young’s “funeral.” After promising to “nail” Young, CNN editor Matthew Philips responded that he was “gonna hold you to that cowboy!” CNN senior editor Fuzz Hogan described Young as “a s—.”

As often occurs today, CNN allegedly gave Young only two hours to respond before the story ran. It is a typical ploy of the press to claim that they gave someone a chance to respond. The call often comes at the end of the day to create the appearance of fairness.  Nevertheless, Young did respond to the chagrin of CNN producers and made clear that key elements of the story were untrue.

CNN’s defense in court was a case study in how not to defend a defamation lawsuit. It included a series of self-inflicted wounds, delivered in front of the jury. However, it is only the latest loss for major media, given recent courthouse setbacks for the New York Times, NBC, and Deadspin. ABC News recently settled its own defamation case out of court, and previously Fox News paid a massive settlement.

Nevertheless, some outlets appear to be doubling down in the hope that they can ride anti-Trump coverage back to robust ratings. Last week, NBC announced that it was bringing Yamiche Alcindor to the White House press corps. Alcindor, who also worked for PBS, was widely criticized for often preceding questions with attacks on conservatives or over-the-top praise for Joe Biden or Democrats. While others saw raw political bias, Alcindor explained that it was her job to use journalism to bend the “moral arc toward justice.”

For decades, the media found ample protection within the protective shell created by the Supreme Court after New York Times v. Sullivan. The Court sought to create “breathing space” for the media by articulating a standard that now applies to both public officials and public figures. The demanding standard requires a showing of “actual malice,” where the media had actual knowledge of a statement’s falsity or showed reckless disregard for whether it was true or false.

The string of media losses reflects a change not in the law but in the media itself. As the press increasingly engages in advocacy journalism, reckless disregard for the truth is becoming the norm, as shown in the CNN case. It could get worse.

Some have questioned the extension of this protective standard to cases involving public figures, which encompasses anyone who has achieved a modicum of fame in business, sports, or other pursuits. A couple of justices have also expressed skepticism about why non-public figures should shoulder such a burden when people lie about them.

Meanwhile, the public is abandoning legacy media at a run, turning to new media in the form of blogs and citizen journalists. Recently, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of such a citizen journalist in a criminal case — a woman known as La Gordiloca (loosely translated as “fat, crazy lady”). Describing her as a “swearing muckraker who is upending border journalism,” the New York Times admitted that La Gordiloca “reflects how many people on the border now prefer to get their news.”

The rise in citizen journalists in new media and advocacy journalism in legacy media will only likely increase the number of such cases in the coming years. For mainstream media, the skepticism that they are facing in society is now becoming equally evident in courts. To paraphrase Judge Henry, their credibility with the public is about none.

Jonathan Turley is the Shapiro professor of public interest law at George Washington University and the author of “The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage.”

347 thoughts on ““This is CNN” (and Modern Media): What CNN’s loss in the Florida Defamation Case Says About American Journalism”

  1. Estovir, thank you for reminding us of the holding in Burdick. I was reading some comments on another site where they were talking about how nice Biden is for protecting people from Trump — where have you been for the past 4 years of coordinated lawfare, did you not see it yourself? One spoke of Joe’s good record of serving people for the past 50 years; no mention of how he and his family served themselves at our expense.

    The Biden family pardons (James, Sara, Valerie, Francis and John T. Owens) surprisingly don’t include Joe and Jill. I wonder why he pardoned Hunter separately since they were all involved together. Maybe because the drugs and gun were in addition to the family business? Also, none for the shell companies? They were the vehicles for funneling the money around.

    Adam Schiff must be happy — he kept asking Pam Bondi in committee about whether she would pursue certain people, although surely he was aware that he would get pardoned at the time. I haven’t yet seen the language of the pardon for the Jan6 committee — Biden tried to negate the Burdick holding but his words don’t hold water.

    Speaking of coordination, nothing for Garland or Smith, or their friends in FL, NY and GA?

    __________________________________________________________________________________________
    Estovir says:January 20, 2025 at 11:03 AM
    A point to consider regarding Biden’s preemptive pardons:

    This brings us to the differences between legislative immunity and a pardon. They are substantial. The latter carries an imputation of guilt; acceptance a confession of it. The former has no such imputation or confession. It is tantamount to the silence of the witness. It is non-committal. It is the unobtrusive act of the law giving protection against a sinister use of his testimony, not like a pardon requiring him to confess his guilt in order to avoid a conviction of it.

    – Burdick v. United States, 236 U.S. 79 (1915).

    https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/service/ll/usrep/usrep236/usrep236079/usrep236079.pdf

    1. The Biden Pardons of; Fauci, Schiff, Cheney, Milley, & Family Members is a de facto indictment of a few of the masterminds behind the Lawfair and Physical attacks upon Trump.
      Obviously there was an army of culprits, but to receive a Pardon under these conditions is a admission of Treasonous Guilt, particularly for; Fauci, Schiff, Cheney, Milley. -Never Forget-

        1. No need to pardon her.
          First… she’s 84 and would most likely be dead from old age before setting foot in prison.
          She has some immunity where as Chaney committed a crime by suborning perjury and improper contact w a witness.
          Now there are civil lawsuits that Trump and others could use… where immunity isn’t an issue…
          But good luck there. Find a judge who is in DC that won’t dismiss the civil cases outright in favor of the Dims.

          -G

  3. trump is giving is a fact free speech. Thank goodness the age of facts is over. From here forward truth and facts are only what the dear leader says they are. It will be so simple to fact check. Just see what the last statement of trump is.

    1. Dear Leader President Ten Percent Biden is here to assure us that as America’s Truth Teller, nothing his replacement is saying is the truth.

      More Biden!

  4. Turley: I can’t believe even the MAGA stooges fall for your writings anymore. First of all, the lawsuit was tried in Florida, home to MAGA–that fact alone discredits any validity. Secondly, you decry “advocacy journalism”, yet you work for the poster child of advocacy journalism–Fox was started by Rupert Murdoch, who was incensed at the revelations of Nixon’s involvement in the Watergate break-in by Woodward and Bernstein and that no one was calling them names, accusing them of bad intentions or otherwise defending Nixon. We we so naive then–but that was before a convicted felon took over. Murdoch believed that if there had been media to attack Woodward, Bernstein and the WaPo that Nixon’s presidency could be saved. Nixon WAS a crook. He resigned because Republicans, back when they were patriots and their oath to the Constitution actually meant something, made it clear to Nixon that they wouldn’t stop an impeachment. So, now, we have an army of MAGA media, started by American oligarchs to spew disinformation, misinformation and lies, to downplay the fact that Trump is a criminal, not only a failure as a person ethically and morally, but a convicted criminal, a misogynist, constant liar, racist and xenophobe, but, importantly, to downplay the fact that Republicans’ real agenda is to get legislation passed to mostly benefit the wealthiest people and corporations at the expense of the rest of us, especially the poor and marginalized. But, they have to get the stooges on-board, so they play up culture wars nonsense to solve “problems” that don’t exist. Did transgender people ask to be “saved”? It’s easy to get those Christian radicals on-board to save those “unborn babies”, even if women in pregnancy crisis have to die as a result, and 10 year old rape victims are forced to give birth. They still hold rallies in red states where abortions are banned, states from which, incidentially, OB-GYNs flee because they can’t do their job without fear of going to jail. So, that means that there are OB-GYN deserts in red states, especially in rural communities–they won’t be there to detect breast or ovarian cancer, for routine GYN or pregnancy care. Women will die because they can’t get even non-abortion OB-GYN care, but those “unborn babies” will be saved.

    Another favorite topic to hook the stooges is males competing in sports. Just how many biological males actually compete with women in sports? According to “Newsweek”, excerpted from a piece published 4/21/2023: “Of the estimated 332 million citizens living in the United States, 1.3 million adults and 300,000 youth ages 13 to 17 identify as transgender, equaling half a percent and 1.4 percent of the population respectively, according to a report published by Williams Institute, a think tank at UCLA’s Law School in 2022. Not all transgender people identify as women, and an even smaller number consists of transgender women hoping to compete in girls’ and women’s sports. Privacy laws make it tough to identify the exact number of transgender athletes competing in public school sports, but researcher and medical physicist Joanna Harper estimates the number can’t exceed 100 nationwide. “While we don’t know the exact number of trans women competing in NCAA sports, I would be very surprised if there were more than 100 of them in the women’s category,” Harper told Newsweek. One hundred transgender athletes would comprise an incredibly small number of the U.S. population, and the number dwindles even further when it comes to middle school and high school athletes. Gillian Branstetter, a spokesperson for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) said the number of transgender athletes isn’t comprehensive, but she’s also certain it’s a very small portion of the nation’s population. Branstetter told Newsweek that Save Women’s Sports, an organization advocating for banning transgender athletes from competing in girls’ sports, identified only five transgender athletes competing on girls’ teams in school sports for grades K through 12.” So why does MAGA media keep whipping up the issue of males competing in womens’ sports? So you won’t notice that they’re going to cut Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and school lunch programs to pay for tax breaks for the likes of Musk, Zuckerberg, Bezos and the other ultra-wealthy–plus to set up American concentration camps–something we haven’t had since the WW-II internment camps for Japanese Americans. Then, there is the rolling back of consumer and environmental protection, stopping green and renewable energy projects to push the agenda of the fossil fuel industry that paid so many millions to get Trump elected.

    Then, there’s “CRT”–which never was taught in grade schools. How about all of those statues of Civil War Confederate officers coming down and re-naming military facilities because it is wrong to honor those who devoted their military career to keeping black people enslaved? WHY do or should you MAGAs care about that? Oh–I forgot–that’s “wokeness”–another concept sold to you MAGAs. If you MAGAs can’t see that you are being manipulated by American oligarchs to vote for the most-unfit person ever to run for president, then you are blind.

    Today is indeed a dark day in American history. American oligarchs, via manipulation of media, established and operated to sell disinformation and misinformation, got a convicted felon elected president–someone who failed the first time around, putting the US in the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression and whose incompetence in handling a pandemic resulted in unnecessary deaths and illness. He also started in insurrection when he lost, and still lies about it. They used culture wars nonsense to put over this person and his toxic agenda, comprised of endless lying, racist tropes, misogyny and projection. I was reminded this morning by a commentator, when Kamala Harris was walking beside Vance, that he called her “trash”. Yet, for the sake of America, she walked beside him anyway, because she is better than he is. Trump refused to attend Biden’s inauguration, but Biden and his wife have not returned the gesture. One person who refuses to participate in today’s little s*it show is Michelle Obama–good for her! Turley’s piece today is just part of the MAGA agenda to attack mainstream media as invalid. It’s funny that when Trump was convicted in his home state of New York, where he grew up and still maintains a residence, MAGA media accused New Yorkers of being biased–but, somehow, when there is a verdict against CNN in Florida, Trump’s current home state, there’s no hint of bias.

      1. I must comfort myself with my ability to pass right by these delusional screeches.

        I get confused with all the ‘anonymous’ posters, so I do have to read those just to figure who is posting.

    3. Turley: I can’t believe even the MAGA stooges fall for your writings anymore.

      NOBODY UNDERSTANDS WHY GIGI COMES HERE DAILY TO POST HER VICIOUS HATRED OF HER HOST, PROFESSOR TURLEY

      Gigi never posts an explanation of why. Gigi never posts an explanation of why there is nothing more important for her to do every day in her life.

      Just daily rambling angry paragraphs of lies and insinuations.

      Gigi cements her place in history as a Biden-level Fire Ho Of Democrat Lies.

      Old Airborne Dog

      1. WHAT DID I LIE ABOUT? Calling me a liar when you can’t name anything I said IS a lie–and a MAGA media tactic. Challenge these facts–I dare you:

        1. the CNN case was tried in Florida, where Trump resides;
        2. Fox was started by Rupert Murdoch, who said the reason was because he was upset that no media would push back against Woodward and Bernstein over the Watergate break in.
        3. MAGA media accused the NY justice system, including Judge Merchan, the AG, the jury, and prosecutors of bias against Trump.
        4. Barry Goldwater told Nixon that Republicans would not save his presidency.
        5. Is biological male participation in womens’ sports a widespread or serious problem?
        6. Are transgender people asking the government for help?
        7. Is it moral and consistent with American values for people who fought to keep black people enslaved to receive the honor of statuary in public places and military installations being named after them?
        8. Did JD Vance call Kamala Harris, who was, at the time, our legitimately-elected VP “trash”?
        9. How are the massive tax cuts for the wealthiest, the concentration camps and deportations going to be financed?

        1. NOW she starts copycatting commenters who number their points, instead of her “slop” and “chum” that she dishes out every day in one burp. Does she have a working brain or just a copy machine?

        3. WHAT DID I LIE ABOUT?

          1. “Trump said Nazis were very fine people”.
          2. “Trump told people to drink bleach”.
          3. “Trump is promising to ban abortion”.
          4. “Trump started and paid for Project 2025 to have as his agenda”.
          5. “Trump is a convicted rapist”. (You suddenly dropped that after the Evil Democrat Dwarf over at ABC had to pay $15 million to settle for that lie”.

          Challenge this fact – I dare you:

          Gigi has ZERO credibility on this blog.

          Old Airborne Dog.

        4. Gigi… once again channeling the sins of her party and herself onto those she hates as a form of communist confession.

        5. “3. MAGA media accused the NY justice system, including Judge Merchan, the AG, the jury, and prosecutors of bias against Trump.”

          Oho! No bias from Gigi’s commie Democrat Attorney General who campaigned on promises to “get Trump”!

          NY attorney general vows to target Trump
          https://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2019/01/03/letitia-james-donald-trump-jones-dnt-lead-vpx.cnn

          No bias from Gigi and George Soros commie prosecutor who campaigned on promises to “get Trump”!

          For prosecutor Bragg, Trump indictment is campaign promise kept
          https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/magazine-columnists/1446574/for-prosecutor-bragg-trump-indictment-is-campaign-promise-kept/

          No bias from Judge Merchan, who refused to recuse himself and stop violating the canons of NY law while his daugher merched out his courtroom to shovel millions in their pockets.

          Gigi makes a desperate attempt to use the “Nothing to see here, move along now” Democrat defense.

        6. 1. the CNN case was tried in Florida, where Trump resides;
          – As opposed to the lawsuit filed by Dominion Voting System against Fox News in Maryland? Given Maryland being more or less a solid Blue/Democratic stronghold (34 Democrats vs 13 Republicans in their state’s Senate, 102 Democrats vs 39 Republicans in their state’s House of Delegates, 2 Democrats in the US Senate, 7 Democrats vs 1 Republicans, and the 1988 Presidential Election being the last time the state went for the Republican candidate) as opposed to Florida being more or less a Purple/Mixed (28 Republicans vs 12 Democrats in their state’s Senate, 86 Republicans vs 33 Democrats in their state’s House of Representatives, 2 Republicans in the US Senate (although one is vacant for the time being until Marco Rubio’s replacement is sworn in), 19 Republicans vs 8 Democrats and one seat vacant in the US House of Representatives, and the 2012 Presidential Election being the last time the state went for the Democratic candidate). I have to say that yes, I think the people of Florida is and will be more impartial than the people of Maryland will ever be.

          2. Fox was started by Rupert Murdoch, who said the reason was because he was upset that no media would push back against Woodward and Bernstein over the Watergate break in.
          – Do you got a legitimate source for that? Rupert Murdoch only became an American citizen back in 1985 in order to satisfy the legal requirement that only American citizens can only own television stations here in the US, 11 years after Richard Nixon stepped down as POTUS. When Murdoch founded Fox News Channel, it was back in 1996, 22 years after Nixon stepped down as POTUS. And when Fox News Channel was established on October 7th, Roger Ailes became FNC’s CEO on the same day as it was founded on. Now the only problem with your proclamation that Murdoch only established FNC to push back against Woodward and Bernstein’s reporting is based on this memo that you probably want to use as evidence was written back in 1970 by Nixon’s chief of staff, H.R. Haldeman, 4 years BEFORE Nixon stepped down as POTUS.
          https://www.poynter.org/reporting-editing/2011/memo-from-1970-a-plan-for-putting-the-gop-on-tv-news/

          So your proclamation that Murdock was upset that no news media would pushed back against Woodward and Bernstein’s reporting on the Watergate scandal is not founded in reality.

          3. MAGA media accused the NY justice system, including Judge Merchan, the AG, the jury, and prosecutors of bias against Trump.
          – I’ll let CNN’s senior legal analyst, Elie Honig do the talking.
          https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/21/politics/video/jury-instructions-elie-honig-trump-hush-money-trial-digvid

          I will also let this law professor at Syracuse University’s School of Law do the talking.

          news.syr.edu/blog/2024/05/07/law-professor-the-manhattan-district-attorneys-convoluted-legal-case-against-donald-trump-gets-more-convoluted/

          I will also add that Judge Merchan pretty much restricted what this expert for the defense, who used to work at Federal Election Commission I will add, can tell the jury and the nuances of the Federal Election Campaign Act

          x.com/CommishSmith/status/1792673042835075497

          But did allow a personal injury lawyer, who was the prosecutors’ star witness, to tell the nuances of the Federal Election Campaign Act to the members of the jury.

          4. Barry Goldwater told Nixon that Republicans would not save his presidency.
          – I can’t answer this statement since it was before my time as I was born in 1979.

          5. Is biological male participation in women’s’ sports a widespread or serious problem?
          – Is transgendered athletes participating against women athletes a widespread problem? No. Is it a serious problem? Yes and here’s the reason why.

          nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/trans-women-retain-athletic-edge-after-year-hormone-therapy-study-n1252764?cid=sm_npd_nn_tw_ma

          Here’s another reason why.
          youtube.com/watch?v=8mZVQa4Pv_k

          So I ask of you, why your side opposes fairness? Why does your side opposes science if it goes against your side’s narratives? Does your side simply love seeing actual women being beaten up by those who were once men? Isn’t there a word for that?

          6. Are transgender people asking the government for help?
          – More or less, yes, they are. In fact, the video I posted even mentions that the Biden Administration extended protection to transgender students, even in competitive girls’ sports. And under the control of Merrick Garland sued states that’s trying to ban certain medical procedures for/on minors. Case in point, United States v. Skrmetti.

          7. Is it moral and consistent with American values for people who fought to keep black people enslaved to receive the honor of statuary in public places and military installations being named after them?
          – Is it moral to honor those who fought against the Union? Perhaps not. But is it consistent with American values? Yes, for those who don’t study history, will be doomed to repeat it.

          8. Did JD Vance call Kamala Harris, who was, at the time, our legitimately-elected VP “trash”?
          – Did Kamala Harris condemned what Joe Biden had said about Trump’s supporters or did she simply distance herself from her boss’s comments?

          youtube.com/watch?v=hD8TgRDuzTs

          If Harris condemned her boss’s comments then you have a point, Vance shouldn’t had called her that. But since she didn’t, she simply distance herself from Biden’s comments then that, IMO, made her fair game.

          9. How are the massive tax cuts for the wealthiest, the concentration camps and deportations going to be financed?
          – If you are referring to the passing of the 2017 Jobs and Tax Act, just to let you know, it benefited everybody, not just the ultra-wealthy. Granted, perhaps it benefited the wealthiest Americans the most, but that’s because the wealthiest Americans paid more in taxes (both in personal income and capital gains) than any other tax brackets. If you yourself didn’t benefited from the tax break then put the blame on your state taxing you excessively, not the 2017 act.

          Concentration camps? Do you mean detention centers? Like the ones that Obama had started? The only concentration camps that I’m aware of were the ones that got started under Franklin Delano Roosevelt when he ordered most Japanese and their children (some, if not most of which were American citizens) and have them forcibly remove from their homes. But we didn’t call them concentration camps, we simply called them “internment” or “relocation” camps. Remind me again which political party did FDR belong to.

          How deportation going to be financed? I don’t know. Perhaps the same way Obama financed the deportations he did under his watch. After all, Obama was dubbed the “Deporter-in-Chief”, was he not?

          Dannyboyo2

    4. Nixon had absolutely nothing to do with the Watergate break in. So you lied on that one.

      John Dean was the mastermind (with the cia obviously) and never told Nixon anything until after it was all over and being exposed. At that point John Dean confessed personally to Nixon, and that tape has been on the tubes and the official archives for decades.

      Your demoncrat party excused John Dean and made him their decades long hero.

  5. Turley sure missed an opportunity to address the TikTok issue. Now Trump seems like a savior becasue TikTok is back on after Trump promised to ‘figure out a solution’ and order the DOJ not to enforce the law. It’s notable that the Chinese owner is a guest of Trump at his inauguaration. Wonder how much did the Chinese owner “contribute” to his inaguariation fund? Influence peddlling anyone? Turley? I know it’s perfectly legal,but it’s corrupt according to Turley.

    The biggest irony regarding the TikTok ban is that people flocked to another Chinese app RedNote which is literally an official Chinese government app. No national secuity issues, right? Now that TikTok is back on not a word about national security. Was this a manufactured crisis to make Trump look good on his first day on the job? A distraction from the awful executive orders he plans to sign right away?

    BTW, I look forward to Turley’s analysis of the Fox News Smartmatic defamation case. Will he cover it or ignore it?

    1. Turley sure missed an opportunity to address the TikTok issue.

      George surely never misses an opportunity to express his hatred for his host, Professor Turley

      We’re lectured that Professor Turley is wrong with each blog post he publishes. Without exception.

      We know this because George uses Professor Turley’s blog as his own, to proclaim that he is always right and Professor Turley is always wrong.

      This is why George has ZERO credibility as he plays the part of Larry in The Three Democrat Marxist Stooges.

      Old Airborne Dog

    2. George: he’ll have to ask Murdoch whether and HOW to cover it, if he covers it at all. Whatever “coverage” there is will be biased in any event.

    3. Poor George… what is Trump going to do w TikTok?
      Under the law, Trump can give them a 90 day reprieve while they try to find a buyer. O’Leary says he’s got billions lined up.

      The bigger irony is that on RedNote… you have less freedoms so that much of the dreck posted is going to be banned.

      But hey! there are other options…

  6. * “news media” must fill time slots 24/7. There isn’t that much news leaving repetition and or advocacy journalism which isn’t journalism at all.

    It’s creative writing done by AI now. It’s one dimensional like a Hardy boys book or Nancy Drew mystery. It’s just BS. The images are altered depending upon the storyline. Make the crowd bigger, make it browner or whiter add some fire and murder.

    Try listening to conservation talk radio now. Same cracking hens as cnn but different names. They’ve sold out and departed. No one would do this if they had a choice. It’s boring and mean. It’s 24/7 negative creativity because life is boring. Excuse me for not being shrill. The shrill is gone…

  7. Biden’s descent into corruption continues shamelessly and recklessly.

    Executive Grant of Clemency

    JOSEPH R. BIDEN, JR. President ofthe United States of America

    TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, GREETING:

    BE IT KNOWN, THAT THIS DAY, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN, JR., PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, PURSUANT TO MY POWERS UNDER ARTICLE II, SECTION 2, CLAUSE 1, OF THE CONSTITUTION, HAVE GRANTED UNTO

    JAMES B. BIDEN
    SARA JONES BIDEN
    VALERIE BIDEN OWENS
    JOHN T. OWENS
    FRANCIS W. BIDEN

    A FULL AND UNCONDITIONAL PARDON

    FOR ANY NONVIOLENT OFFENSES against the United States which they may have committed or taken partin during the period from January I,2014,through the date of this pardon.

    IN TESTIMONY WHEREOF I have hereunto signed my name and caused the seal of the Department of Justice to be affixed.

    Done at the City of Washington this 19th day of January in the year of our Lord Two Thousand and Twenty-Five and of the Independence of the United States the Two Hundred and Forty-Ninth.

    JOSEPH R. BIDEN, JR
    President

    https://www.justice.gov/pardon/media/1385756/dl?inline

    versus

    December 3, 2020:

    Biden on Trump’s possible pardons for family: “It concerns me” – CNN

    President-elect Joe Biden told CNN’s Jake Tapper that he was concerned about reports that President Trump is considering a host of preemptive pardons for his adult children and lawyer Rudy Giuliani, as well as the possibility of one for himself.

    “It concerns me in terms of what kind of precedent it sets and how the rest of the world looks (at) us as a nation of laws and justice,” Biden said during his first joint interview with Vice President-elect Kamala Harris since winning the election.

    https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/biden-trump-us-election-news-12-03-20/index.html

    1. Lifelong Democrat pollster Mark Penn is putting country above party. In the process, he’s burning bridges to the Democrat Party. He’s obviously had it with Biden’s abuse of power and corruption. I don’t have an X account. But his tweets are being linked at places I read:

      This one I saw at Hot Air a few minutes ago.
      https://x.com/Mark_Penn/status/1881327074465452296

      This one was linked by Real Clear Politics a few days ago:
      https://x.com/Mark_Penn/status/1879869820289605782

      1. What Mark Penn said:
        ======

        The last straw

        Last minute pardons for Biden’s political accomplices were the plan all along. The pardons for drug dealers and commutations for murderers were just cover for the main act of these pardons and his son — all done after elections have passed.

        The only administration to try to jail political opponents was not Trump’s but Biden’s, and it was the voters who rejected it with their votes.

        There were legitimate questions on whether Fauci lied about his funding of gain of function research, whether Miley broke the chain of command and had unauthorized communications with the Chinese and whether the Jan 6th committee coached witnesses. They may have all been right and truthful but there were questions, and they will all go unresolved now.

        But Biden was elected lying to the public about his son’s business (which was eventually uncovered), sought to win reelection hiding his infirmities, (which was also eventually uncovered), and genuinely abused his office in the closing days of his presidency as his low ratings sink even lower.
        ==============
        Farewell Biden

        The danger that Joe Biden failed to warn about in his speech was the power of government and its abuse.

        Abuse when government determines what can and cannot be written on social media.

        Abuse when government gives jobs and money to political friends instead of those most qualified.

        Abuse when political opponents are arrested and charged at the urging of the president.

        Abuse when the laws are not enforced and the border left open for political reasons.

        Abuse when hundreds of billions of dollars in loans are forgiven for political gain despite court rulings.

        Abuse when a president says others should pay taxes while pardoning his own son for failing to pay taxes on millions shaken out of shady global interests.

        Farewell to the almost unprecedented abuse of government power, the core value of the constitution.

        1. It is a FACT that scores of people who otherwise would not have voted for Trump did so because he LIED about bringing down the cost of food—not because Biden pardoned anyone. It is a FACT that Hunter Biden paid his back taxes, with penalties and interest, and that it is unusual for the federal government to pursue felony charges against someone after they made full restitution. It is a FACT that Trump did commit multiple crimes, and that he was convicted of 34 felonies. Here’s what a You/Gov poll says about Americans’ views on Trump’s crimes: When Americans who had heard of each case were asked to rank the cases in order of importance, 50% said the most important case is the federal-election and Jan. 6 case. One-quarter (23%) said the classified-documents case is the most important, while fewer said the Georgia election case (15%) or the hush-money case (13%) were the most important.

          Americans have varying views on whether the investigations in the cases against Trump are being conducted fairly or unfairly. For each of the investigations, more than 70% of Democrats believe it is being conducted fairly; few Republicans agree.

          Among Americans, 44% — including 73% of Democrats and 16% of Republicans — think the Georgia election case is being conducted fairly. Similar percentages believe the investigation into the hush-money case is being done fairly: 42% of U.S. adult citizens, 72% of Democrats, and 12% of Republicans say this.

          What about the federal-election case? Among U.S. adult citizens, 46% say the investigation is being done fairly while 36% say it is being done unfairly. Democrats (76%) are more likely than Independents (43%) or Republicans (16%) to believe the investigation into these events is being conducted fairly.”

          So, no, Floyd, Americans did not vote for Trump based on believing that he was unfairly prosecuted. Like everything else in his pathetic life, Trump’s “victory” was the product of lies. Trump was indicted by grand juries in each case. You say Biden lied about being criminally involved with allegedly criminal conduct of his son–WHERE IS THE PROOF? Republicans tried, for years, to drum up proof, but failed–yet MAGAs like you still believe.

          And MAGA media also claims that Biden, who is allegedly demented to the point of needing institutionalization, “orchestrated” Trump’s criminal prosecutions. There is NO proof whatsoever of this. But, you still believe. You speak of cronysim–Trump was purchased by Miriam Edelson, a wealthy Jewess, who spent the gambling money from her husband’s allegedly illegal casinos in China to get Trump elected so he would do everything to help Israel keep getting away with genocide, clearing out the Palestinians so Israel can take the West Bank and the Golan Heights. She is the one who pushed for moving the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem–an “in your face” gesture to Muslims, who also claim Jerusalem as their center for religious belief. Then, there’s Musk, Bezos, Zuckerberg and the CEO of TikTok, who are all genuflecting at the MAGA altar, including refusing to do fact-checking, so the endless firehose of lies can proceed unchecked.

          1. How has Trump lied about bringing down the cost of food? He was just sworn in today. Maybe day drinking isn’t working for you?

          2. * people voted for Trump because of crime, murders of young women, which would only get worse under the one who loves venn diagrams and the wheels on the bus…

          3. The use of the archaic phrase ” a wealthy Jewess” demonstrates Gigi is likely an anti-semite.

            “there were investigations of Adelson’s gambling casino.”

            Gigi should first learn how to spell Adelsohn. It is with an A, not an E. Then, she should see that nothing was ever found to demonstrate that Adelson did anything illegal. The left always has half-baked ideas as to who is corrupt, but now that should be clear with all the pardons that had to be made for heroes of the Democrat Party, such as General Miley. He is a criminal who had to be pardoned.

            Do you have dyslexia, Gigi? Hamas pledged genocide against the Jews, and Hamas’ numbers have increased, not decreased.

            Israel should never leave Judea and Samaria. It is theirs legally, but what does Gigi know about the law, the British Mandate, and international treaties?

            What else can we expect from someone with such ignorance and anti-semitic arguments?

        2. Mark Penn is wrong. We will finally get answers and along with those answers we’ll finally have access to whatever evidence was withheld. The pardons will force these people to finally tell the truth. Fauci will finally have to be completely candid about GOF research, China, Wuhan, funding, all of it…no attitude during hearings, no stonewalling. He’ll be sitting there on a leash because if he lies, even once, even a little lie, its all over for him. He gets the Bannon treatment. That goes for Cheney, Milley, all of them. For them to be completely truthful, they will need to throw a ton of their underlings under the bus. Let’s see if they do it.

  11. Jonathan: Today we celebrate MLK’s Birthday. I guess you won’t be celebrating. But Senator Elizabeth is. This is what she posted: “So today, on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, a day where we are called upon to uphold his legacy and take a stand against racial and economic injustice, we will inaugurate a man who is a walking antithesis of that legacy”. Truer words were never spoken.

    Now about your column. What caught my eye was your attack on Black journalist Yamiche Alcindor (no relation to the basketball star) who is joining the NBC WH press corps. Alcindor has a history with DJT–something you don’t mention in your column.

    During the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic DJT held a press briefing on 3/29/2020 about the administration’s handling of the crisis. Alcindor, who was then a PBS correspondent, asked DJT this Q about requests for ventilators by the states: “Thank you, Mr. President. I have two questions. The first is, you’ve said repeatedly that you think that some of the equipment that governors are requesting, they don’t actually need. You said New York might…not need 30,000”. DJT denied the statements and kept interrupting Alcindor before she could complete her Q. She then pointed to a statement DJT made on Sean Hannity’s Fox News show where he said: “I don’t believe you need 40,000 or 30,000 ventilators…”.

    Caught in a lie DJT then attacked Alcindor personally: “Excuse me. You didn’t hear me. That’s why you used to work for the Times and now you work for somebody else. Look, let me tell you something. Be nice. Don’t be threatening”. In that one statement DJT displayed his attitude toward the press during his entire first term–racist and sexist attitudes toward female journalists of color. In a post after the press briefing Alcindor had this reaction: “President Trump today at the White House said to me: ‘Be nice, Don’t be threatening”. I’m not the first human being, woman, black person or journalist to be told that while doing my job”.

    So what can we expect in the second DJT term? Will Alcindor even be allowed to ask Qs of DJT? Might she even be banned from WH briefings because she’s not “nice” asks “threatening” Qs? Stay tuned because we’re going to need journalists, like Alcindor, to point out the incessant narcissistic lies of the guy who will be occupying the WH again today!

    1. Dennis: It is really cold here, today. I think I will make some stew later. I figured out that since I get more than one serving from a pot, I can stay within my $2 per meal budget. I use my Aroma rice cooker to make the stew, and it is pretty quick. I buy the big can of tomatoes, and I get almost 5 servings out of that. I just added some wood to the fire, and I am watching the Inauguration on youtube, on my big TV. I bought it used for $50 a few years ago. Anyway, only a few minutes until we get rid of the demented clown that your party foisted on us.

        1. Currently, upper 20s here. It was 21 when I got up at 8:11AM. I will feed the outside strays later, when it is warmer. There is still some leftover dry food from last night, but Stuart, Sarge and Big Boy like them some wet food.

          1. I dug the spot were the cats come out from the barn from under some three feet of snow. They crawled out and started running up and down the paths.

            1. Mine got the zoomies this morning, about 3:00 AM when I got up to go to the restroom. Well, not all of them. Pogo would hardly let me move her to get out of my recliner. I had to cover her up while I was up. She also sleeps under the blanket with me most nights, along with Peanut. Then, there are the cats who sleep on top of the blankets. I also put some logs on the fire, and dang near fell on my a$$.

    2. Dennis McIntyre: Can’t we bury the one-sided, partisan attacks on Trump? Maybe you missed the video of Max Blumenthal being physically thrown out of a press conference given by Antony Blinken because he asked the tough questions about Israel’s genocide. At least Turley is honest enough to acknowledge that all sides of the political spectrum, from FOX to CNN, violate the First Amendment. You sickening Democrats just cry over your pathetic, mediocre journalists (which Alcindor certainly is) and pretend that Democrats are always the victims.

      1. GioCon: you brought up an important point–Israel and how our government, both parties, look the other way when Israel invaded and settled the West Bank, when it engaged in outright geoncide against the Palestinian people, when it bombed the Gaza strip into the Stone Age, when it deliberately is starving Palestinian women and children and denying them even clean water to drink. It’s not like there aren’t aid agencies ready, willing and able to help out with food, water and medical supplies–but Israel won’t let them in. Whenever the UN proposes something against Israel, such as condemning the genocide or settling the West Bank, America votes against each and every such resolution. That is wrong. America used to stand against genocide, but not when Israel is the one doing it–and that is wrong, even when it is a Democrat administration. Wealthy Jews purchase a lot in this country, and that, too, is wrong. It will only get worse under Trump. At least Biden pushed for a 2-state solution. Given the hundreds of millions Trump has received from wealthy Jews, that will probably go away, too, and conflict in the region will continue.

        1. Gigi is an ignoramus who replaces her prior name, Natasha, destroyed by her stupidity and lies. Israel’s sovereignty is based on the League of Nations, International law, treaties and other legal entities. The UN has never lived up to its agreements. One war was started when the UN troops left a UN peace border so Israel could be attacked again. The UN was supposed to keep Hezbollah north of the Litany River but never lived up to its side of the bargain. In the latest war, UN workers were part of the Massacre of Israelis while UN facilities were hiding Hamas rocket attacks, etc. Gigi must be pretty stupid to say what she does without noting these facts.

    3. Your comments are somewhat comical being you clearly remain uninformed about what actually happened during the “Pandemic”. Before I educate you about something you likely don’t understand I am a licensed healthcare professional with 40 years in the field a good portion of it in Emergency Services including having worked as the Director of Emergency Services for a hospital group.

      If you think that defending the media as being anything but manipulative and dishonest enhances your credibility you would be mistaken. However I will stick to correcting your misguided beliefs. In one sense DJT is a disaster in that he refuses to accept responsibility for the chaos that ensued when he followed the advice of a failed career bureaucrat who botched the entire AID/HIV response that left millions dead by pursuing a magic “vaccine” that never came to be while refusing to fund therapeutics that eventually led to it being a manageable chronic disease. Of course that was over the objections of over 200 credible and highly respected experts that made it clear that nearly everything Fauci recommended would end in disaster. Of course in hindsight they were correct whether you have chosen to accept that reality or not. Trump still refuses to take responsibility for that disaster which is concerning.

      However in regards to his comments about ventilators let me help you with that. The current findings are that ventilators along with the deadly, previously pulled from the market due to it’s lethality, remdesivir were responsible for nearly every ventilator involved death. Remdesivir which was removed from the market because it was found to kill more people than the disease it was designed to treat; Ebola. I’m sorry if these facts are inconvenient to your fantasy. In addition there was no shortage of ventilators anywhere. That was a manufactured crisis created by the media focusing on one isolated situation that was resolved immediately. Just like when Good Samaritan Hospital in Los Angeles has patients lined up in the hallways and nurses working under horrible unsafe conditions. It’s just the number of sick is so overwhelming. meanwhile 90% of the hospitals in the area are empty. Something the media ignored. While a personal friend of mine was treating these patient’s lined up in the hall I asked him why they weren’t transferring these patients to the Navy Ship sitting in the Harbor ready to receive patients with 1000 beds that is sitting there EMPTY. Well that’s because the hospital would lose the incentives given by the government to intubate and ventilate people along with finding any correlation to a death to label it as covid no matter how ridiculous. You see I saw the healthcare provider releases from the Board of Health directing us to do these things. Directly us to list any respiratory death that wasn’t tested for covid as covid by presumption. This was done intentionally. This was not a conspiracy theory.

      We also know that the proper treatment for most of the people who were ventilated that you don’t treat a POX reading you treat the patient. Many people were put on a ventilator with minimal to no serious symptoms other than a reading on a machine. Medicine 101 is you treat a patient not a number.

      You can criticize Trump all you want but in truth the media along with the Democrats and most of the Republicans just engaged in a disgraceful unethical attempt to seize power and create fear and actually killed a lot of people in the process is a far bigger issue than Trump is mean. A somewhat childish and immature perspective about missing the big picture that it doesn’t matter if the Country burns to the ground if it means potentially offending someone. I’ve got news for all of you liberals. Your hold on this Country is over. People have had enough. I can quote Star Trek but it’s common sense that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the one or the few. That is just a fact of the world that cannot be changed. Woke politics and leftist policies thrive on trying to make each person out to believe the rest of the world should bow to their limitations or sensitivities. That’s what makes us weak. I will also say the same thing about diversity which is what leads to division. We should be first and foremost Americans. We do what’s best for the most. The idea of the “melting pot” was that alloys are stronger than any one part of what comprises them. Diversity is saying we can all fight with whatever sword makes us comfortable even if it’s so heavy you can’t swing it or so brittle it shatters. No different. Our nations started to die when we started to try to put what separates us as more important than what we have in common.

      You clearly just hate Trump. Instead of pointing to something he actually should be criticized for you go after his demeanor. Like a good liberal style is more important than substance. By the way the treatment protocol for “covid” with an actual “symptomatic” patient is high flow pp oxygen, not a ventilator. So we don’t need them, wouldn’t and shouldn’t have needed them and never actually were short of them. As far as credibility goes you score off the charts in having none at all. I would also point out that early in the pandemic when Trump mentioned Hycrochloroquine as a treatment CNN ran and article saying the drug was dangerous, in short supply as well as difficult and expensive to manufacture. None of that is true. Anyone in healthcare should know that. They also stated that there was no proof or evidence that it would work. Aside from the fact it is one of the safer drugs out there and used extensively and prophylactically in Africa to address Malaria. You know, Africa where there were few covid cases, not only that but when sued under the FOIA by Judicial Watch they were forced to release the study done by DARPA, under contract by the DOD to investigate responses to biowarfare involving a coronavirus their findings were that Hydrochloroquine, Ivermectin, as well as interferon were not on effective treatments but “CURATIVE” for coronaviruses. They knew that in 2008 when the study was done and it was represented to the federal government in 2020. If there was an effective treatment available under the law they would not be able to petition for the Emergency Use Authorization to bypass full safety testing for a new technology that had not been proven to be safe or effective. That’s why this was covered up by the Biden administration and it absolutely WAS covered up. You can look it up yourself. The facts and the documents are now public. The people you elected to office lied to the American people and engaged in conduct for whatever motive that they knew was dangerous and unnecessary. We can argue about the motives but the rest of it is factual. So you really aren’t in a position to be casting stones and calling Trump a liar.

      1. * treatment is dexamethasone and antibiotic. Liquid potassium iodide if mucus forms. Elderly are incapable of expelling mucus plugs.

      2. In one sense DJT is a disaster in that he refuses to accept responsibility for the chaos that ensued when he followed the advice of a failed career bureaucrat

        That’s pretty declarative!

        Trump had how many months in office to sit and consider that maybe Fauci was wrong about that pandemic developing? With the background of the media, Democrats and health professionals (like your Anonymous self) celebrating Fauci as the hero who would save America?

        Trump certainly made some errors. No question.

        Now… do you have any comments on whether any of your fellow “licensed healthcare professionals” (who aren’t Anonymous like yourself) have even the tiniest bit of responsibility in the chaos you describe?

        Any one of them you can think of who may have used their image as a “licensed healthcare professional” to deceive and/or mislead Trump about Fauci or what the response to this rapidly evolving pandemic should be?

        How about this: Anyone else in elected office, or the supporting Democrat media have any responsibility for the chaos?

        Or just Trump – because he should have seen through all of it (just as Anonymous licensed health care professionals say they did).

    4. Jonathan: Today we celebrate MLK’s Birthday. I guess you won’t be celebrating. But Senator Elizabeth is.

      The slapstick vaudeville performative political theater of The Three Democrat Marxist Stooges continues… Moe has arrived after Larry and Curly posted their parts.

      Dennis: President Trump mentioned it in his inaugural speech. That certainly didn’t fit your plan. I guess that’s why you didn’t mention that. You chose for your lead-in that other Democrat liar – Princess Fauxahontas Liawatha Warren… the native princess without a reservation.

      Today normal Americans celebrate the inauguration of President Trump and the end of the political career and damage caused by the racist Democrat president who told you and his fellow Democrats he didn’t want MLK’s Jungle Bunny Kids in schools with his pureblood white Hunter Biden.

      That’s the same racist Democrat Biden who told the world he never met a single decent, clean, well spoken black American in his 40+ years of elected office in Washington DC.

      Obama’s Third Term as served up by Bribery Biden and their Reign Of Error, Terror, And War is over.

      Old Airborne Dog

  12. Dear Prof Turley,

    CNN who? I only watch the Sunday morning news shows to better know my enemies.

    Lots of bi-partisan pomp and ceremony at the swear-in shin dig. I suspect that belies a seething turmoil of intrigue and desperation behind the scenes. (e.g. over 51 top top intel officials are nowhere to be seen.)

    *good thing ‘Lets go Brandon’ pardoned everybody. .. on his way out the door.

  13. As the child of 2 alcoholic parents, I can see that the woke left is addicted to their cult as any alcoholic. No amount of reasoning, logic or facts will deter them from their allegiance to what it is that allows them to deal with the world as they see it. They are wrong in their visions, of course, but the fear of those visions overwhelm their desire to stop. In fact – just like alcoholics, they need their crutch (their belief in the fairy tale of a utopian world) to deal with the real world. These are people not really in control of themselves. I fear for a growing number of these humans who are ill-prepared to handle the real world and will withdraw to the fear instincts in all of living things and strike out at what they see as a threat to them.

      1. yes, she has her security blanket/furry because she is not prepared to deal with the world – just like the bottle for alcoholics or cocaine for others. These are people who were not able/allowed to mature into adult humans and they seek safety because they do not have the qualities needed to deal with the harshness of reality. We need to treat them as broken people and try (although this is the difficult part since only the addicted can cure themselves) to help them find peace in their lives through learning to deal with the real world, not hide from it in a bottle of in dreams of an impossible utopia.

      2. Women exist to perpetuate man.

        Women who don’t give birth have absolutely no raison d’être.

        Their pointless lives are entirely without purpose.

        That would drive normal women insane.

      3. looking at that bovine monstrosity, it appears the only thing missing is a ring they put through the noses of dangerous cows.

  14. A point to consider regarding Biden’s preemptive pardons:

    This brings us to the differences between legislative immunity and a pardon. They are substantial. The latter carries an imputation of guilt; acceptance a confession of it. The former has no such imputation or confession. It is tantamount to the silence of the witness. It is non-committal. It is the unobtrusive act of the law giving protection against a sinister use of his testimony, not like a pardon requiring him to confess his guilt in order to avoid a conviction of it.

    – Burdick v. United States, 236 U.S. 79 (1915).

    https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/service/ll/usrep/usrep236/usrep236079/usrep236079.pdf

    1. @Estovir,
      I have to wonder how legal a preemptive pardon is… I mean I guess it would depend on how it was written.

      Saying you’re pardoned for any activity that you might have done during the previous 4 years… would be vague.
      While there are no charges… there is the presumption of guilt because you clearly did something that would require a pardon.

      So while a court of law cannot find you guilty and sentence you… the court of public opinion can.

      And this brings up an interesting question…

      Suppose a news organization (cough CNN) were to write a negative story detailing Chaney and the J6ers crimes. I mean full details and then slams them and shames them. Because they were pardoned, would they be able to sue for defamation or libel?

      Like I said… I’m waiting to see what Turley has to say about the pardons.

      -Gumby

      1. Cheney is a public figure. The level of proof a public figure would have to provide to prove defamation is extremely high. Much higher than a non-public figure. The first thing they have to prove is that what was said is not true. You don’t give any specifics which is the most important thing, especially in the case of whether someone is in jeopardy of legal action. If they write an article saying Cheney violated the law by witness tampering Cheney could sue but she would lose because she in fact did tamper with witnesses. That’s why she isn’t suing anyone in spite of everyone saying it in the few conservative public news outlets. She knows if she sues they will show the evidence publicly about her witness tampering. If that happens then the State Bar would be forced to disbar her and the Department of Justice would be compelled to start an investigation. That’s why she isn’t suing people. She just made an empty threat to sue and then shut up and scampered back into obscurity. These people were fully assured that Trump would never ever end up back in the White House. They had no problems lying and making stuff up. That’s why they are all spinning right now. That’s why nobody is burning the Country down like they did the last time. The Democrats got a message loud and clear the nation is fed up with that nonsense. So they are regrouping and trying to figure out what to do now but they are also very worried, and should be, because if Justice does prevail there will be a lot of people going to jail. You can’t just walk away and not investigate the lawfare and election tampering that has become rampant in the last three election cycles. It remains to see if someone actually does what needs to be done to prosecute these people. I would add that Biden’s pardons of these people is a legal admission of guilt. That was decided in a case by the supreme court some time ago. So when they say Trump is a convicted felon well that’s silly and possibly true but nearly all of Bidens henchman were also criminals so they have no standing to criticize anyone else.

      2. This was my thought this morning when reading of those pernicious pardons. Perhaps we cannot ever hold them accountable by means of the law but exposing the true nature of their deeds could make their remaining lives living hells as people confront them on the damages they have done and the lives they have ruined. And I don’t think this should be confined only to those who have been given this shameful pardons, but hopefully ALL the dirt on the swamp gets pushed into view so that we can, as “We The People” can shame them, condemn them and ostracize them from the community of citizens. That would be a far worse punishment for these egomaniacs.

        1. I honestly don’t know how much effect that would have. Those people have dishonored their oaths, disregarded their clear duties, and enriched themselves in the process. They are clearly incapable of shame, and move about socially almost exclusively in circles of fawning sycophants. I doubt that they have much fear of being thoroughly outed. Preventing any of them from ever holding another position of public trust would be beneficial, but if the repercussions are limited to that, it would hardly be condign punishment.

    2. Estovir,
      Well, now we all know who the party of criminals are. Kinda makes you wonder what they knew about the Biden admin they could of used to get him to pardon them.

    1. Floyd:

      Oh they’re still around and in the shadows. Let’s hope they reform but my guess is they’ll just fester and look for another opportunity to open Pandora’s Box on us again. In the meantime, let’s enjoy the day and look forward to the inevitable truth-telling to come. fauci and crooks will be exposed and their lies refuted.

  16. Wasn’t there a defamation settlement with Fox News recently? I’m pretty sure it was for more than $5 million. I could be wrong on that. Anybody have any info on Fox News committing Defamation?

    1. Wasn’t there a defamation settlement with Fox News recently?

      CNN Confirms Settlement After $275 Million Lawsuit with Nick Sandmann
      https://thenationaltriallawyers.org/article/cnn-confirms-settlement-after-275-million-lawsuit-with-nick-sandmann/

      Shock and amazement at a cowardly Anonymous Democrat obviously deflecting right past CNN’s previous settlements for defamation (i.e. Nicholas Sandmann) to try a “BBBBUUTTT… MUH FOX!”

      Any Anonymous Democrats out there who can tell the audience if it was for more or less than $5 million?

      Asking for honest Anonymous Democrats out here.

    2. what difference does that make? Are you trying to justify bad behavior by pointing to other bad behavior because that’s the foundation of a losing argument from the start.

  17. WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report)—In an eleventh-hour decision on Sunday, the Inauguration of Donald J. Trump has been moved from the Capitol Rotunda to the interior of a Tesla Cybertruck.

    The change of venue, dictated by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), means that only people with a net worth of over 100 billion will be able to attend.

    “There’s room for me, Zuckerberg, and Bezos, but, unfortunately, not JD Vance,” Musk said. “I usually don’t let employees work remotely, but JD will be allowed to call in.”

    The decision to hold the Inauguration inside the electric vehicle pleased Trump, who estimated the number of people inside the truck at 4 million.

    2. That’s pretty funny. it could be the sequel to how Joe Biden fixed the economy, lowered the cost of living and created jobs. Which is almost as funny as the literal knee slapper of how Joe Biden got people to respect America again as he sends a bunch of very confused creatively dressed, mentally ill people to represent us in Europe. They literally looked like 4 villains from a Batman movie. It’s ironic how Joe Biden confuses becoming a laughing stock with being respected. The list goes on but I like the idea.

  18. Radical woke liberalism coupled with pure stupidity has metastasized the one-respected Fourt Estate into the propaganda sock puppet of the Left and, in particular, the Democrat cult. Whatever the final punitive damages award in the CNN defamation case might be, it should be quintupled.

    1. If there ever was, or ever will be, an ideal target for challenging the power of POTUS to issue pre-emptive pardons to those who have not even been charged with a crime, this would appear to be it. Biden’s stated justification was the threats suffered by the pardon recipients as a result of ” faithfully discharging their duties”. Hmmm. First, it is crystal clear to me that ” faithfully discharging their duties” includes, first and foremost, faithfully adhering to the oath of office they took to uphold the Constitution; an oath that many, if not all, of them ignored. Second, it is somewhat dubious to me that Biden’s pardons will actually reduce the overall credible threats against them. Allow me to pose a hypothetical. Suppose you were someone who had lost dear family members to COVID, and (defensibly) blamed Anthony Fauci, personally, for those deaths, on the premise that his evasion of the law barring gain of function experimentation in the US was directly responsible for the COVID pandemic. Further suppose that you were previously willing to let the law take its course with regard to holding Fauci accountable and exacting equitable punishment for his actions. How might your attitude and reaction change, now that he has been immunized against any manner of justice imposed by our legal system?

    1. Are you sure about what is being celebrated? Isn’t that Karen Bass, the one farthest to the Left?

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