| | | Don Surber
When in doubt, shout First Amendment
For good measure, throw in due process and the Fifth Amendment too
Politico reported:
The White House is removing the Wall Street Journal from the pool of reporters covering the president’s weekend trip to Scotland, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Politico.
The move follows the Journal’s report alleging that President Donald Trump sent a sexually suggestive message to Jeffrey Epstein in 2003. Trump has denied the existence of the letter and Politico has not verified it.
Tarini Parti, a White House reporter for the Wall Street Journal, had been scheduled to serve as the print pooler for the final two days of Trump’s four-day trip to his golf courses in Turnberry and Aberdeen, Scotland.
Parti joined Sir Rupert Murdoch’s WSJ six years ago as she worked her way up the journalistic ladder from BuzzFeed News and Politico.
The president of the White House Correspondents’ Association, Weijia Jiang of CBS, said, “This attempt by the White House to punish a media outlet whose coverage it does not like is deeply troubling, and it defies the First Amendment.
“Government retaliation against news outlets based on the content of their reporting should concern all who value free speech and an independent media. We strongly urge the White House to restore the Wall Street Journal to its previous position in the pool and aboard Air Force One for the President’s upcoming trip to Scotland. The WHCA stands ready to work with the administration to find a quick resolution.”
The First Amendment now includes giving the WHCA control of the passenger list of Air Force One.
Maybe the two sides can meet halfway. Parti is allowed to board Air Force One but has to leave in midflight. Don’t worry, a parachute would be provided.
The First Amendment now also supersedes congressional control of the federal budget.
CNN reported, “A federal judge on Monday extended an order that blocked the Trump administration from enforcing a provision of President Donald Trump’s sweeping domestic policy law to defund Planned Parenthood’s health care services.”
Blah, blah, blah. Paragraphs 10 and 11:
U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani, in her order, said Planned Parenthood was likely to succeed on its claim that the law’s funding ban violates the health care provider’s First Amendment rights because of its support for—and provision of—abortion services.
“Instead of merely prohibiting Planned Parenthood Members that receive Medicaid funds from providing abortions, the statute prohibits them from affiliating with entities that do. Moreover, the record is devoid of evidentiary support for Defendants’ suggestion that Planned Parenthood entities share funds that are ultimately used for abortions,” the judge wrote. “Therefore, restricting funds based on affiliation with an abortion provider operates only to restrict the associational right of Members that do not provide abortion.”
Wow, Talwani found where that right to abortion is in the Constitution. Is there nothing the First Amendment cannot do?
The judge’s also said the law’s passage violated Planned Parenthood’s Fifth Amendment rights to due process. I wouldn’t mind a country run by judges if none of them were morons appointed by Obama and Biden.
The First Amendment’s control of the federal budget is a relatively new interpretation of our Constitution written in 1787.
CNN reported in May:
National Public Radio filed a First Amendment lawsuit against the Trump administration on Tuesday, alleging that President Trump’s attempt to defund NPR is a “clear violation of the Constitution.”
Several NPR member stations from Colorado joined the national network in filing the suit, highlighting the local impacts of taxpayer-funded media.
What an odd claim to make after NPR CEO Katherine Maher said, “The number one challenge here that we see is of course the First Amendment in the United States.”
Just to be clear, the First Amendment now covers funding and aeroplane flights, not actual free speech. Got it?
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Harvard gets it.
CNN reported, “Harvard University was back in court Monday for a hearing in its funding fight case against the Trump administration, a key step in a battle over restoring more than $2 billion in federal funding for research frozen by the White House this spring.”
Paragraphs 4 through 7:
Harvard lawyer Steven Lehotsky argued Monday the government is in “blatant and unrepentant violation” of the First Amendment, as well as Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. Cutting funding under the guise of combatting antisemitism was “arbitrary and capricious,” Lehotsky said.
The cuts will “devastate long-running research projects, eviscerate labs, and hurt careers,” he said.
The Trump administration, meanwhile, says Harvard has failed to address antisemitism on campus in the aftermath of the October 7, 2023, Hamas attacks on Israel and that it is acting within its authority.
“It is the policy of the United States under the Trump Administration not to fund institutions that failed to adequately address antisemitism in their programs,” the administration has argued.
Donald Trump is fighting antisemitism. He makes a terrible Hitler. Even Obama was a better authoritarian and he sits when he pees.
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Then there are Pornhub and other online brothels for voyeurs who say the First Amendment protects them from having to verify, under Texas law, that their customers are 18 or older.
The Supreme Court said last month, “Adults have no First Amendment right to avoid age verification, and the statute can readily be understood as an effort to restrict minors’ access.”
No thinking American would argue with this common sense decision, which means naturally that Larry (Sotomayor), Curly (Brown Jackson) and Moe (Kagan) dissented. Nyuk, nyuk, nyuk.
Then there is CBS ending The Late Show With Stephen Colbert next year after losing $40 million a year on the show. Unable to argue against cancelling this money pit show, idiots cried First Amendment!
The Hill reported:
CNN anchor Jake Tapper criticized CBS’s parent company over its recent decision to cancel The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, arguing that Paramount Global is in a “bend-the-knee phase” to President Trump.
“Obviously, President Trump has made no secret of his hatred of being mocked, specifically the jokes that people like Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel make at his expense,” Tapper said.
“In this era, where corporations such as Paramount don’t just ignore a president complaining, don’t just dismiss any thin-skinned leader because we live in a country with a First Amendment right to mock the president,” he continued. “That would be one thing, but, no, Paramount is in a bend-the-knee phase.”
Mocking the president got a rodeo clown fired and blacklisted in 2013. Tapper was silent. First they came for the rodeo clown, but Tapper said nothing because he was not talented enough to be a rodeo clown.
CBS and Trump so censored Colbert that he will remain on the job until next May and on Monday CBS let Colbert to tell the president “go fuck yourself” on the air.
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Variety reported:
In the monologue, Colbert noted that Trump also said in his online post, “I hear Jimmy Kimmel is next” to be fired. To which Colbert said, “Nope, no, no. Absolutely not. Kimmel, I am the martyr. There’s only room for one on this cross. And the view is fantastic from up here. I can see your house!”
“Folks, I’m gonna go ahead and say it: Cancel culture has gone to far,” Colbert quipped at the start of the show. “Over the weekend, it sunk in that they’re killing off our show. But they made one mistake: They left me alive,” he said. “And now,” Colbert said, “for the next 10 months, the gloves are off. I can finally speak unvarnished truth to power and say what I really think about Donald Trump, starting right now”—and he then offered this comically milquetoast critique of Trump: “I don’t care for him. Doesn’t have the skillset to be president. Not a good fit, that’s all.”
Colbert reiterated his praise for CBS, saying they have “always been great partners.” But he also asked rhetorically, “how could it be purely be a financial decision if The Late Show is No. 1 in ratings?”
Well, Stevie, to answer your question, you see losing half the audience you inherited from David Letterman reduces ad revenues while your production company keeps adding staffers and spending more money. You turned a profit center into a dark hole.
Trump reacted as one might expect.
Why shouldn’t he? On January 12, 2021, Newsweek reported, “Stephen Colbert Mocks Trump's Social Media Bans: ‘What Are You Waiting for Pornhub?’ ”
Trump did not cancel Colbert. The American people did. CBS no longer wants to lose $40 million a year so that Colbert can preach to a shrinking choir of less than 1% of the population. He’s like a Nixon impersonator trying to find work during the Reagan presidency.
The affiliates will quickly fill the time with reruns, maybe of the The Apprentice.
Better yet, the affiliates could run The Apprentice reruns should CBS cancel 60 Minutes because the network’s current owners had to shell out $16 million and its future owners will pay $20 million to Trump for the show’s deceptive editing of its interview with Kamala which made the birdbrain sound only slightly dull.
However, 60 Minutes is still a cash cow that makes far more money than Trump will collect, while Colbert is a steer. His true believers, though, are rallying to his cause.
NYT reported, “The Freedom of the Press Foundation, a First Amendment group, has said it planned to file a lawsuit on behalf of shareholders against [Shari Redstone, the chair and controlling shareholder of Paramount] and the Paramount board in the event of a settlement; the group has retained the prominent litigator Abbe Lowell for its effort.”
I don’t know. It seems to me that Paramount settling a $2 billion lawsuit for less than 1% of the money sought is a pretty good deal. Plus the settlement avoids surprises in discovery and uncomfortable depositions.
The First Amendment protects what most Americans believe is their most important liberty. For some it is freedom of religion, while for others it is the right to speak out. Still others cherish peaceable assembly and the right to petition the government.
But for Colbert, Planned Parenthood and others, the First Amendment is just a right to other people’s money. It is pretty sad that so many people are driven by money, not principle.
As for Miss Parti, she need not worry. I am sure Sir Rupert can fly her over to Scotland in one of his private jets if it is THAT important to watch President Trump golf. |
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