Posted on 02/27/2016 1:57:52 PM PST by dschapin
In his remarks today at a rally in Fort Worth, Tex., Donald Trump knew he’d make news. “I’ve never said this before,” he declared.
We’ll await the word of the Washington Post Fact Checker on the integrity of the statement, but Trump did appear to be veering into a new talking point. A media-law talking point, that is:
One of the things I’m going to do, and this is going to make it tougher for me…but one of the things I’m going to do if I win…is I’m going to open up our libel laws so when they write purposely negative and horrible and false articles, we can sue them and win lots of money. We’re going to open up those libel laws. So that when the New York Times writes a hit piece, which is a total disgrace, or when the Washington Post, which is there for other reasons, writes a hit piece, we can sue them and win money instead of having no chance of winning because they’re totally protected.
An attack on media law is a logical extension of Trump’s rhetoric, not to mention a threat to American democracy. After all, he has displayed a highly undemocratic annoyance with the idea that the media is independent. For months he has been attempting to get the cameras at his rallies to properly pan around the thronged arenas, the better to capture his out-of-control popularity, even when the camera operators’ job is to stay on him. He has ridiculed reporter after reporter for reporting the facts of Trump’s march through the GOP primaries. Whenever he has been busted out by investigative journalism, he has attacked the institutions that have compiled it.
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(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Boo Hoo is on it...
I can’t tell you what I wish were to happen to 90% of the ‘Press’ in America...I’d be banned.
So, I guess he wants to “fundamentally transform America”?
Okay, then lets take that to the extreme.
By your advocacy there, you have made it clear you think the Washington post should be able to make stuff up and publish:
Trump committed capital murder if it wasn’t true
Trump abused children sexually, even if it wasn’t true
Trump had his people kill someone, even if that wasn’t true
For heaven’s sake folks, get a freakin grip.
If a paper or media outlet publishes an untrue slander, they should have to face the consequences in a court of law just like anyone else.
Back up the story with a solid paper trail, okay.
Otherwise, get ready to be owned by someone else.
Just as Trump's rise is due largely to the failures of the GOPe, so is this proposal due to the failures of the MSM.
They take Sullivan as carte blanche to print lies and distortions with impunity. I don't necessarily agree with what Trump wants, but I see where he is coming from.
On the face of it, no problem, we are not a democracy. The word does not exist in the Declaration nor the Constitution.
I see the problem you are stating but I also see the distortions and out right lies the MSM publish everyday. Nobody holds them accountable. The answer to the problem is to have more ethics in journalism. How we get there is the problem.
I think the cheese has slid off his cracker!
My initial reaction is Trump is being foolish to taunt the media at this time, and in this way. He has benefitted greatly from his easy access to free media. Seems kinda stupid to scare them off this way.
WE might get rid of them by simply not responding.
If the Washington Post can’t lie anymore they will go out of business. Now wonder they as concerned.
Thou shalt not criticize or write negatively about Donald Trump (Blessed is He) ever. This will be the new exception to the First Amendment.
I’m all about making the press more accountable for what they write. That isn’t going to “destroy American democracy”. what a crock of shiite.
It’s a tough call where to draw the line, but in what was posted it says that he is targeting ‘false’ media reports. That’s what libel is, and libel is a legitimate restriction on the first amendment. All rights have some limits, when ones rights run afoul of other peoples rights and freedoms. But where you draw the line, and who decides whether the line has been crossed are the difficult questions - as you point out.
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If you would like to be added to the
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Trump's plan would essentially allow the powerful (politicians / government officials / wealth elites) to silence their critics under threat of being sued, which many could not afford the fees just to defend themselves. This is consistent for his call earlier in the campaign for the FCC to silence someone making critical remarks about him.
Do Trump supporters really want
Well yes...because Trump. Because winning.
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