Enlightened America caused a stir.
A glimmer of hope awaits after a new dark age in which a demented muzak music dominates what America could charitably describe as “public discourse.”
A familiar group of wealthy, pampered bullies masquerading as “journalists,” politicians, and “free speech” champions who, until recently, enjoyed – what money and status afforded – shouting and swaggering with impunity permission.
Enlightened America has had enough, and now, happily, seems to understand that beating the bully means having to confront the bully.
It’s been a joy to see election technology company Dominion Voting Systems take a righteous stand against wealthy, pampered bullies on Fox non-News.
Instead of flinching or dissenting in the face of a fight, Dominion embraces the need to defend the truth and its name as both meet and pay a primetime bully for the services and pay of a billionaire, Australian alpha bully attack.
Since Dominion filed a defamation lawsuit in 2021, the once-obscure company has done a fantastic job of exposing how Fox non-News bullies not only repeatedly lied about the results of the 2020 presidential election, but knew they had been lying The work appeases their fact-sensitive audiences, and of course makes a tidy profit.
Opening arguments, which were scheduled to begin Monday in a Delaware courthouse, have been postponed. Both parties are said to be trying to reach a settlement before the blockbuster case goes to trial, according to reports.
In addition to the eye-wateringly large bonus, Dominion wants an apology from Fox’s non-news arm for lying again and again in a fictional conspiracy to shift votes from Donald Trump to Joe Biden.
Whatever the outcome – in and out of court – Dominion has triumphed by embarrassing a bunch of cocky TV studio villains who no doubt believe they are untouchable and incapable of accountability.
Fox non-News bullies share the sense of defining immunities and rights with Trump, the professional bully they publicly embrace but privately deride.
Like Fox boss Rupert Murdoch and his arrogant corporation, Trump had to endure legal punishment, which he was able to avoid until earlier this month, as dodgy gangster Al Like Capone’s modern reincarnation.
“Don” Trump’s reliance on delays and distractions to avoid prosecution didn’t work this time. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg finally did something that frustrated prosecutors in his office thought they had amassed ample ammunition years ago — charged Trump.
Belatedly, Bragg settled the bully Commander-in-Chief. Enlightened Americans and the idea of the rule of law in this country are shattered, thank him for that.
This time, Trump’s tantrum trap was tightly shut as he sat in a New York courtroom, flanked by lawyers. Trump looked small and defeated, his trademark snarl drained from him in a remarkable moment for a laconic judge who would, in time, decide his fate.
Skeptics and opponents who dismiss the indictment as gruel miss the point. Bragg invited other district attorneys and a special prosecutor to follow his historic lead by challenging the total bully and affirming that no one, including the former president, is above the law.
This is very important.
Still, bullies attract bullies. So it’s no surprise that full-time flamethrower Marjorie Taylor Greene traveled to New York to take advantage of the opportunity to validate her MAGA spit credentials.
Enlightened New Yorkers know nothing about it. Armed only with whistles, they surrounded and drowned the Georgia Congresswoman as she tried in vain to hear her voice on a megaphone amid the glorious din.
Taylor Greene was beaten and backed into a large SUV and hurried away, just like bullies do when confronted with a face-to-face provocation. Her group of supporters burst into impotent chants of “America, America,” which, like their irritated patrons, faded into irrelevance.
Perhaps taking a cue from outraged New Yorkers, Bragg also brought Trump’s attack dogs to Congressman Jim Jordan’s attention. Bragg by being polite with so-called “legislators” who are more interested in protecting hush money mobs than adhering to the U.S. Constitution.
Bragg is suing the House Judiciary chairman in what the district attorney described as a “transparency campaign” to “intimidate and attack” his office’s case against Trump.
Good for him. The message: Bullying will no longer be tolerated. See you in court.
The same message came from enlightened voters in Wisconsin, who showed up at the polls in record numbers in early April to unseat a black-robed bully who denied voting and abortion rights.
Dan Kelly was put down by former judge and prosecutor Janet Protasiewicz. Her convincing victory spelled the end of ultraconservatives’ 15-year control of the state’s Supreme Court, which was hearing a lawsuit seeking to strike down Wisconsin’s 19th-century abortion ban.
Three Tennessee lawmakers sent the same message of defiance as they challenged the state’s Republican supermajority over the state’s failure to protect school children from dismemberment and murder by automatic weapon-wielding assassins.
On April 6, two of the three members of the Tennessee House of Representatives who happened to be black — Justin J Pearson and Justin Jones — were fired by racist Republican bullies, Intended to suppress dissent.
The plot failed. Enlightened citizens poured into the streets and legislatures, powerfully expressing their solidarity with Pearson and Jones. Days later, the pair returned to their seats at the State Capitol.
The bullies were defeated again.
Then, last week, the editorial heads of PBS and NPR told electric car salesman Elon Musk and his money-losing, social media vanity project that Twitter was actually a well-deserved hike.
Musk, the bank-accounted bully, tried to discredit NPR journalism by labeling him a “state-affiliated media” on his popular Twitter account.
To its credit, NPR responded to the blatant lies and Musk’s slander by announcing that it was ditching Twitter.
After Twitter also added “government-sponsored media” to its account, PBS did the same. Both news organizations were annoyed at the suggestion that their newsrooms were staffed by propagandists rather than reporters.
wonderful.
Journalists should stand up to bullies. Pardon the pun, but bullying to NPR and PBS. I hope more journalists and news organizations follow suit.
Encouraged bit by bit, enlightened America, to borrow a phrase, reclaims its dazed and disoriented country from the liars and charlatans who disfigure them for notoriety and money.
That’s the very definition of patriotism.
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial position of Al Jazeera.
