ABC obeyed in advance
Because they are gutless wonders
Donald Trump has moved through life suing at the smallest (or no) provocation. Most of the time, he is unsuccessful. But the walking id has learned that if he keeps flinging poo against the wall some of it will stick. He’s particularly fond of defamation suits.
That may be because he gets called so many names.
Last week, ABC News agreed to pay $15 million toward Trump’s presidential library (see above) because one of ABC’s talking heads (George Stephanopoulos) called Trump a rapist on-air in March.
Strangely enough, so did a judge.
In May 2023, a jury found the former and incoming president guilty of sexual abusing the writer E. Jean Carroll, and a judge later clarified that yes, it was rape. (What? You just dropped in from a galaxy far, far away? Yes. These days, we elected rapists.)
You can read the court settlement here. It’s just seven pages, and contains the following (and galling) apology:
The settlement includes $1 million to Trump’s attorneys, the Florida-based Brito PLLC.
Why would ABC News set such a dangerous precedent with the incoming king? They settled even before depositions were taken, so I’m thinking we should blame cowardice. As attorney Marc Elias said, “Knee bent. Ring kissed. Another legacy news outlet chooses obedience."
Adding ABC News to my list of complicit assholes. And remember: Never obey in advance.
I am reminded of two things. First, my mother telling me about being a grad student at UCLA in the bad old days of McCarthyism and loyalty oaths, with an obbligato of “you just had to go along.” She was a singularly anxious and guilt-ridden person.
The second is how Trump and his cadres just keep rolling along, one fait accompli after another, oh was that illegal? too bad it’s done nothing can fix it ha ha. And on the front end, as you note, lobbing up sticks, stones, bones, names, lies, damned lies and threats, to clear their path just enough.
We need to be willing to obstruct.
We need not to give phantasms of profit motive a blanket pass, though it’s become The American Way over the past 45 years. We need to refuse to practice helplessness or hopelessness.
As Ray Bradbury quoted Hugh Latimer saying to Nicholas Ridley just before they were burned at the stake: “Play the man, Master Ridley; we shall this day light such a candle, by God’s grace, in England, as I trust shall never be put out.”
The only real question now is whether we will choose to be cowards, too