It’s very interesting to me that the main way that Conservatism is being held to account these days is through defamation lawsuits. They are extremely hard to prove here in the States, yet several key players have all been found liable. Fox News, Alex Jones, Giuliani, Trump are at the top of the list, and there are others like this.
It reminds me of Ronald Suskind’s article about the GWB administration, and how it was contemptuous of the Reality-Based Community
The aide said that guys like me were ‘in what we call the reality-based community,’ which he defined as people who ‘believe that solutions emerge from your judicious study of discernible reality.’ […] ‘That’s not the way the world really works anymore,’ he continued. ‘We’re an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality. And while you’re studying that reality—judiciously, as you will—we’ll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that’s how things will sort out. We’re history’s actors…and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do’.
If it were up to these folks, history (and the facts it is based on) would be determined by the victors. But even these folks have gone too far “creating reality”. I’m glad we found a mechanism to hold these liars to account.
This is how free speech works. You are allowed to say anything you want and the government can’t stop you. You are, however, accountable if what you say is false and causes harm to others.
Unfortunately, because of the way our media cycle works, the damage is done way before the perpetrator is held accountable and the corrective action is not broadcast well enough to reverse the damage from the original action. Especially, when the correction gets shrugged off while the perpetrator goes on another round of disinformation.
It’s very interesting to me that the main way that Conservatism is being held to account these days is through defamation lawsuits. They are extremely hard to prove here in the States, yet several key players have all been found liable. Fox News, Alex Jones, Giuliani, Trump are at the top of the list, and there are others like this.
It reminds me of Ronald Suskind’s article about the GWB administration, and how it was contemptuous of the Reality-Based Community
If it were up to these folks, history (and the facts it is based on) would be determined by the victors. But even these folks have gone too far “creating reality”. I’m glad we found a mechanism to hold these liars to account.
This is how free speech works. You are allowed to say anything you want and the government can’t stop you. You are, however, accountable if what you say is false and causes harm to others.
Unfortunately, because of the way our media cycle works, the damage is done way before the perpetrator is held accountable and the corrective action is not broadcast well enough to reverse the damage from the original action. Especially, when the correction gets shrugged off while the perpetrator goes on another round of disinformation.
It’s a big problem.