Media, Politics

Dumpster Fire: White House Press Office Faced Internal Criticism Over the Rewriting of President Biden’s Garbage Comments

Since the “Let’s Go, Brandon” incident, the media has been repeatedly accused of reframing news or rewriting words to benefit the President or the Biden-Harris Administration. This week, the White House Press Office and various media outlets like Politico and MSNBC have been ridiculed for denying that President Joe Biden called Trump supporters “garbage.” It has created a weird dissonance as Democratic politicians denounced what the White House and many in the press denied was said. Now, the White House Press office is being criticized from a new quarter for the clean up on aisle three: the Director of White House Stenography, Amy Sands. The White House stenographers objected to the rewriting of the transcript by the Biden White House staff to suggest that the President was condemning Trump’s rhetoric, not his supporters. Continue reading “Dumpster Fire: White House Press Office Faced Internal Criticism Over the Rewriting of President Biden’s Garbage Comments” →

Free Speech, Media, Politics

“Why We Influenced the 2020 Elections”: Facebook Files Reveal the Coordinated Effort to Bury the Laptop Story

Recently, I spoke at an event about my book, “The Indispensable Right,” at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia. Appearing on the panel with me was a New York University professor and one of the Facebook board members directing “content moderation.” We had a sharp disagreement over the record of Meta/Facebook on censorship, which I described as partisan and anti-free speech. Now, Congress has released the internal communications at Facebook, showing an express effort to appease Biden officials by censoring the Hunter Biden laptop story before the election. Continue reading ““Why We Influenced the 2020 Elections”: Facebook Files Reveal the Coordinated Effort to Bury the Laptop Story” →

Columns, Free Speech, Media, Politics

The Media Musk? Why the Cancel Campaign Targeting Jeff Bezos Could Backfire

Below is my column on Fox.com on the expanding boycott of the Washington Post by Democratic politicians, pundits, and members of the press. The reason? Because owner Jeff Bezos wants to stay politically neutral and leave the matter to the public. In an age of advocacy journalism, the return to neutrality is intolerable. The reaction is itself revealing. In a heated meeting this week at the Post, writers were apoplectic with attacks on Bezos and alarm over the very notion of remaining neutral in an election.  One declared to the group: “One thing that can’t happen in this country is for Trump to get another four years.”  The immediate and reflexive call of the left for boycotts and canceling campaigns is all too familiar to many of us.  The question is whether the targeting of Bezos could backfire in creating a major ally for the restoration of American journalism.

Here is the slightly altered column:

Continue reading “The Media Musk? Why the Cancel Campaign Targeting Jeff Bezos Could Backfire” →

Torts

“Something Wicked This Way Comes.”: Halloween is Starting With a Litigious Flare

“Something wicked this way comes.” Those words from William Shakespeare’s “Macbeth” capture the approach of Halloween.

Traced to the Celtic festival of Samhain to mark the end of the harvest, pagans would often summon the dead. Halloween today more often summons contingency lawyers by the gross. If there is a holy holiday for personal injury lawyers it is Halloween with its mix of slip-and-falls, food liability, and costume defects. Continue reading ““Something Wicked This Way Comes.”: Halloween is Starting With a Litigious Flare” →

Academia, Columns, Congress, Free Speech

Dr. Jay’s Slam Dunk: Blacklisted Scientist Receives Prestigious Award for “Intellectual Freedom”
YouTube

Below is my column in the New York Post on the prestigious award given to Stanford Professor Dr. Jay Bhattacharya last week and what it has to say about those who censored, blacklisted, and vilified him for the last four years. In celebrating his fight for “intellectual freedom,” the National Academy effectively condemned those who joined the mob against him as well as the many professors who stayed silent as he and others were targeted.

Here is the column: Continue reading “Dr. Jay’s Slam Dunk: Blacklisted Scientist Receives Prestigious Award for “Intellectual Freedom”” →

Congress, Criminal law, Politics, Torts

Over the Border: Gun and Torts Liability to Collide in Mexican Case Before the Supreme Court

This month, there is a new case on the docket after the Supreme Court granted certiorari in Smith & Wesson Brands v. Estados Unidos Mexicanos.  The First Circuit reversed a trial court that dismissed the case, alleging that the American firearms industry is legally responsible for violence in Mexico. I believe the First Circuit is dead wrong and will be reversed. However, as a torts professor, there is a question of whether the tort element of proximate cause could be materially changed in the case. Torts professors are already lining up to argue that there is a proximate cause under existing doctrines to hold the firearms industry liable. I respectfully disagree. Continue reading “Over the Border: Gun and Torts Liability to Collide in Mexican Case Before the Supreme Court” →

Columns, Media, Politics

Bravo, Washington Post: Ending Media Endorsements Could Help Restore Trust

As someone who used to write regularly for the newspaper, it has been a long time since I have had an occasion to say this but . . . Bravo, Washington Post.

This week, the Post announced that not only would it not endorse a candidate this year, but it would not do so in the future. Over two decades ago, I wrote a column calling for newspapers to end the practice of all election endorsements. (Yes, before all things seemed to turn on how you feel about Donald Trump). I have continued to push the press to abandon this pernicious practice. Continue reading “Bravo, Washington Post: Ending Media Endorsements Could Help Restore Trust” →

Academia, Free Speech

“Enjoy Getting this Stain Out”: Turning Point Display Trashed at UC Berkeley

In my book, “The Indispensable Right, I explore how vandalism and aggressive campus protests should not be treated as free speech but as proscribed conduct. College Fix has another example of this distinction today when a person trashed a Turning Point table on the campus of UC Berkeley. Continue reading ““Enjoy Getting this Stain Out”: Turning Point Display Trashed at UC Berkeley” →

Politics, Society

Gallup: Over 80 Percent of Americans Support Voter ID and Proof of Citizenship Laws

This week, I wrote about polls that show the public is not buying the apocalyptic predictions of the imminent death of democracy unless Kamala Harris is elected president. Now, a new poll shatters another main talking point of pundits and the press. Democratic candidates, including Vice President Harris, have denounced voter identification laws as “Jim Crow 2.0” attacks on voters. A majority of voters have long supported these laws. According to a new Gallup poll, that majority is now a supermajority. Continue reading “Gallup: Over 80 Percent of Americans Support Voter ID and Proof of Citizenship Laws” →

Columns, Constitutional Law, Courts, Media, Politics

Panic Politics: The Press and Pundits Face Devastating Polls on the Threat to Democracy

Below is my column in the New York Post on the growing hysteria among press and pundits proclaiming the imminent end of democracy if Kamala Harris is not elected. The predictions of mass roundups, disappearances, and tyranny ignore a constitutional system that has survived for over two centuries as the oldest and most stable democracy in the world. More importantly, the public appears to agree that democracy is under threat but appear to hold a very different notion of where that threat is coming from.

Here is the column:
Continue reading “Panic Politics: The Press and Pundits Face Devastating Polls on the Threat to Democracy” →

Free Speech

Musk Mania: European Censors Warn Musk that They May Level Fines Based on all of his Businesses

I have previously written about the European Union’s (EU) effort to use its infamous Digital Services Act (DSA) to force companies like X to censor Americans, including on postings related to our presidential election. This is a direct assault on our free speech values, and yet the Biden-Harris Administration has not raised a peep of objection. Now, the EU is threatening to set these confiscatory fines with reference to revenue from companies other than X, including Space X. Continue reading “Musk Mania: European Censors Warn Musk that They May Level Fines Based on all of his Businesses” →

Criminal law, Media, Politics

The Mark of Kaine: The Biden Administration Under Fire for Virginia Lawsuit over Non-Citizen Voter Removals

Call it the Mark of Kaine. The heated dispute between the Biden Administration and the State of Virginia just took a curious turn after Virginia lawyers released support for the effort to remove alleged noncitizens from the voting rolls ahead of the presidential election. The main witness against the Biden Administration may prove to be Sen. Tim Kaine (D., Va.) who is on the ballot this election. Continue reading “The Mark of Kaine: The Biden Administration Under Fire for Virginia Lawsuit over Non-Citizen Voter Removals” →

Events, Free Speech

Turley Speaks at National Constitution Center on Free Speech Today

I have the pleasure of speaking at the National Constitution Center today on free speech and my new book, “The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage.” I will be speaking around 6 pm on a panel with the great civil libertarian Nadine Strossen, former head of the American Civil Liberties Union.

Continue reading “Turley Speaks at National Constitution Center on Free Speech Today” →

Columns

La Gordiloca Goes to Washington: A Citizen Journalist Wins Key Reversal for New Media
Res ipsa loquitur – The thing itself speaks