Rule of Law Should NOT Be Subject to a Political Party or the Media

2021 news has unabashedly morphed into “THE” propaganda department of the Democrat Party. There is NO legitimate debate of that fact anymore.

When many like us here at TruthNewsNetwork first pronounced that fact way back in 2014, we were laughed at incessantly. “You’re conspiracy theorists, alarmists, and rubes for the Republican Party!” We heard that and much more from “the other side.” I’d be laughing and screaming how right we were if it made any difference. In this case, as would millions of other Americans, I would be much happier knowing the American journalists were that and nothing more. Journalists are professional news reporters who report the facts — period. These so-called journalists are anything but news reporters. The Leftstream Media pundits who we refer to have allowed themselves to believe their own drivel and have become little more than self-appointed Democrat Party sycophants set on destroying every individual and news organization that formally disagrees with their line of spin. They refuse to accept the responsibilities that come with wearing the title “Journalist.” They like the sound of the name; they abhor what its definition is.

Now, these 2021 Media find themselves being targeted by a federal judge. Judge Laurence Silberman of the D.C. Court of Appeals shocked many in the world of News in an opinion written and released last week. A synopsis of his blistering negative notes about this media are included in a story below.

Mollie Hemingway of The Federalist and FOX News Contributor wrote a short piece illustrating this fact better than any other I’ve seen or heard. We defer to her on this one:

The control of major media by one political party is a dangerous threat to the country, a federal judge warned in a blistering dissent that called for courts to revisit libel laws that generally protect the press from being held liable for their reporting.

“It should be borne in mind that the first step taken by any potential authoritarian or dictatorial regime is to gain control of communications, particularly the delivery of news,” wrote Judge Laurence Silberman of the D.C. Circuit for the Court of Appeals. “It is fair to conclude, therefore, that one-party control of the press and media is a threat to a viable democracy.”

Silberman argued that it’s time for courts to revisit New York Times v. Sullivan, which has shaped press law in favor of media outlets for more than five decades. The New York Times and the Washington Post “are virtually Democratic Party broadsheets. And the news section of The Wall Street Journal leans in the same direction,” Judge Silberman wrote in his March 19 dissent. He said that orientation also controls the Associated Press and most large papers in the country, including the Los Angeles Times, Miami Herald, and Boston Globe. “Nearly all television—network and cable—is a Democratic Party trumpet,” Judge Silberman added. Silicon Valley also has “enormous influence” over the distribution of news and it “similarly filters news delivery in ways favorable to the Democratic Party,” wrote Judge Silberman, highlighting the shocking suppression of stories about Joe Biden and his family when he was running for president.

In that case, Twitter and Facebook censored media outlets that reported accurately about the Biden family’s dealing with foreign entities. Twitter suspended users, including sitting White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany, for merely sharing accurate information, and prevented people from sharing the information privately on its platform. Facebook said it would censor coverage of the Biden family corruption pending a “fact-check,” an unprecedented privilege given to Biden in the closing days of one of the closest presidential elections in history.

Only a few major media outlets are not controlled by the left, Silberman noted, citing Fox News, where this reporter is a contributor, the New York Post, and The Wall Street Journal. “It should be sobering for those concerned about news bias that these institutions are controlled by a single man and his son. Will a lone holdout remain in what is otherwise a frighteningly orthodox media culture? After all, there are serious efforts to muzzle Fox News,” he wrote. CNN hosts and other leftist activists are currently on a campaign to deplatform their rival.

“Admittedly, a number of Fox’s commentators lean as far to the right as the commentators and reporters of the mainstream outlets lean to the left,” Silberman wrote in a footnote, in a dig at reporters inserting their extreme partisan views into news stories.

A New York Supreme Court judge last week ruled against The New York Times’ effort to get a defamation suit against it dismissed. The Times had said that its reporters were inserting opinion into news stories and that opinions are not actionable for defamation. The argument didn’t hold sway with the judge, who critiqued the blending of news and opinion in purported news stories. Another footnote critiqued the tepid response of some to “big tech’s behavior” censoring conservative speech. Silberman called repression of political speech in large institutions with market power “fundamentally un-American.”

“Some emphasize these companies are private and therefore not subject to the First Amendment. Yet—even if correct— it is not an adequate excuse for big tech’s bias. The First Amendment is more than just a legal provision: It embodies the most important value of American Democracy. Repression of political speech by large institutions with market power therefore is—I say this advisedly—fundamentally un-American,” Silberman wrote.

He then cited Tim Groseclose’s book, “Left Turn: How Liberal Media Bias Distorts the American Mind,” which empirically argued that media bias even a decade ago gave Democrat candidates an 8-10 point advantage. “And now, a decade after this book’s publication, the press and media do not even pretend to be neutral news services,” Silberman noted.

“The First Amendment guarantees a free press to foster a vibrant trade in ideas. But a biased press can distort the marketplace. And when the media has proven its willingness—if not eagerness—to so distort, it is a profound mistake to stand by unjustified legal rules that serve only to enhance the press’ power,” Silberman concluded.

Mollie Ziegler Hemingway is a senior editor at The Federalist. She is Senior Journalism Fellow at Hillsdale College and a Fox News contributor.

She is the co-author of Justice on Trial: The Kavanaugh Confirmation and the Future of the Supreme Court. 

Summary

We, American plain old citizens, do little other than work in the trenches, trying to keep our businesses (if we own one), our families, and ourselves afloat while dodging COVID-19, Black Lives Matter, White Supremacists, the KKK, Antifa, and Capitol Hill rioters. Sometimes that’s a really tall list of responsibilities! Most have very little time to expend the effort necessary to digest and analyze the blather we see and hear daily in newspapers, television, radio, and internet “noise.” These sycophants 24/7 indoctrinate readers, viewers, and listeners with the various Leftist blather of the day. Keeping up with it all is exhausting!

So what do we “Joe” Americans do about our news? We choose one that we like and that most appeals to our senses about honesty and truthfulness in the news, and that’s the source of 90% of what we learn about our country and its daily social, political, and cultural happenings.

That’s pretty scary!

Before any who number among the group of Americans who really pay attention and keep up with the facts blasts their fellow Americans, think of this: This Lamestream media environment is NOT just an accidental occurrence with little backing, little or no preparations, no guidance from a group of so-called “Leaders,” and without a plan. There IS a plan. What is it?

I can only surmise — which I will NOT do. “Why not tell us, Dan?” Doing so would only give you one opinion on the matter. And that’s not sufficient.

Yes, getting the truth is of the utmost importance — not just for you but also for everyone who breathes air within your circle of influence. This literally is life-and-death for us all. Why? How we receive and digest the news in our world determines which decisions we make, when we make them, and based on which “facts” as WE determine are THE ones to use in doing so.

That’s a tall order!

How do we do that? You start right where you are. Then you “engage” — in everything around you that impacts your world.

There’s no need for me to elaborate further. You know what they are. And you are already doing it, often based on anything BUT facts. The scary thing is that your doing so with no forethought, investigation, or fact-finding could be creating the destruction of your future and that of all those who look to you for guidance. Obviously, getting your arms around it all is supremely important.

From there, I have just one suggestion: Stay engaged. Treat this process as you should be treating your personal relationships with those you love. Listen, watch, learn, sometimes remain silent while other times blowing your head off in talking to others. When it’s time to make decisions after adopting and living in this process, you may make a wrong turn or two. But it is doubtful there’ll be any car wrecks. Why?  Because you’ll be making decisions based on facts that YOU have verified are just that: FACTS.

It won’t be easy. But it’s necessary for us all.

Whatever you do going forward, stop struggling to become WOKE!

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