Court to the Washington Post: Don’t Try too Hard to Get It Right
By Ann CoulterJuly 31, 2019
AnnCoulter.com
Last week, U.S. District Court Judge William O. Bertelsman dismissed Nick Sandmann's $250 million defamation suit against The Washington Post for its stories about a mythical racist hate-crime allegedly committed by Sandmann, a Catholic schoolboy, against fake war hero and "Indigenous Person" Nathan Phillips.
This is why people of sound judgment and good character despise the press, and also the courts.
For three days running after the annual March for Life in Washington, D.C., earlier this year, the Post published vicious hit pieces -- six articles and three tweets, along with a deceptively edited 59-second video -- portraying the teenaged boy as a Goebbels-level racist, who violently smirked at a hapless Indian.
Thus, according to the Post, while waiting with his classmates at the Lincoln Memorial for their bus to arrive, Sandmann:
-- "accost(ed)" and "physically intimidated" Phillips;
-- blocked Phillips, refusing to let him retreat;
-- was part of a group chanting "build that wall," "Trump2020," and "go back to Africa" at Phillips and assorted other left-wing, America-hating activists;
-- only relented in his taunting, "when Phillips and other activists walked away.”
This is "true" in the sense of being the exact opposite of the truth.
Switch the aggressor and the prey and you've got the picture -- as proved by a one-hour, 46-minute video triumphantly posted on Facebook by the Black Hebrew Israelites the same day as the Post's first article on the incident. (They were the ones screaming at the Covington boys, calling them "incest babies," "dirty ass crackers," and "future school shooters." Sounds like a nice school trip.)
As the video makes clear, Sandmann was standing in the same place the whole time, minding his own business, when Phillips made a beeline to him, planted himself in front of the teenager and began banging his drum and singing loudly inches from Sandmann's face.
At no point did Sandmann, or his friends, chant "build that wall," "Trump2020," or "go back to Africa" or anything of the kind.
They were doing school cheers.
Phillips' harassment of the teenaged boy only ended when the school bus arrived to pick up the kids, and Sandmann boarded it — not when Phillips, in humility and grace, walked away, as the Post reported.
The video also shows that, as soon as Sandmann departed, Phillips turned and celebrated his subjugation of the teenager, as a fellow Indigenous Person shouted: "I got him, man, I got him! ... We won, Grandpa, we f------ won, Grandpa!”
Last Friday, Judge Bertelsman threw out Sandmann's lawsuit against the Post on the grounds that who walked up to whom, who intimidated whom, and who was banging drums in the other guy's face is:
a) a matter of "opinion";
b) "subjective";
c) something the Post's reporters were told by a guy (the Indian); and
d) not a specific reference to Sandmann -- despite putting his photo all over their newspaper and Twitter feed. (Why, it could have been anyone in a MAGA hat with an Indian banging a drum in his face!)
Of course, without the Post's "opinions," "subjective" terms and unquestioning acceptance of what some guy told them, there would have been no story. BREAKING: A group of Covington Catholic kids stood in general vicinity of an Indian and showed no particular reaction.
The judge acts as if the Post was absolutely required to write the story, and reporters were within their rights to use their own impressions -- even if they were wrong -- with no obligation to check the facts, even to the point of turning an innocent teenager into a worldwide object of hate.
You probably want to know more about the judge, so here's a report I've improvised:
Judge Bertelsman smirked [subjective term] as he and lawyers for the Post surrounded the Sandmann family [opinion] and taunted them [subjective term] for their Catholic faith [someone told me that]. (FN-1.)
A Carter appointee and avid collector of child pornography [subjective term], Judge Bertelsman is well-known as a white supremacist [opinion]. FN-2.
In previous rulings, Judge Bertelsman has endorsed snuff films [subjective term], trafficking in human body parts [someone told me that] (FN-3) and dumping industrial waste [subjective term] into pristine rivers and lakes. (FN-4.)
Bertelsman is a draft dodger [opinion] and has been accused of cheating [subjective term] on his bar exam. (FN-5.)
NOTE: The part of this column giving the judge's biography was written in haste, so didn't have time for fact checking. However, even assuming arguendo that the above statements were "about" Judge Bertelsman, I was careful to keep all assertions within legal realm of "opinion," "subjectivity" and "things people told me."
I did a great job. It's legally unassailable.
FN-1: As Judge Bertelsman ruled, "surrounding" is a subjective term that can mean "walking away" or "standing still."
FN-2: What? He liked "The Parent Trap" with Lindsay Lohan. You may not find that to be kiddie porn. I do. Therefore, I may characterize him as a devotee of child pornography.
FN-3 See supra, "The Parent Trap."
FN-4: This is my opinion based on Judge Bertlesman's siding with corporate giant The Washington Post crushing a lone individual, Nick Sandmann. In every other context, we're supposed to take the individual's side, even if it's someone who took a space heater into the bathtub with him. Not anymore!
FN-5: Bertelsman actually served in Vietnam, but "serving" "in" "Vietnam" is subjective, and I choose to regard it as not going to Vietnam.
N.S.: Once upon a time, I’ve heard, words had meanings. If you want to know what that’s about, you’ll have to take it up with Scalia’s pillow.
Judge needs to be impeached and removed from office. I am not holding my breath.
ReplyDeleteI'll repost a previous comment:
ReplyDeleteCiting free speech, judge dismisses Covington Catholic student's lawsuit against The Washington Post
11:07 a.m.
GRA:Remember when this lawsuit was filed?Hannity,Carlson and Ingraham all had guests on that predicted a "slam dunk ruling" against the WAPO.
"They're going to pay through the nose,"said one famous lawyer.
Well it won't be money,will it--must be nose hairs.
I'm slightly confused.Free speech,when exercised by a conglomerate--even if slanderous--is protected,but MY free speech is NOT protected--if I use that company's blog site.In fact,conglomerate media companies like Twitter or a WAPO comment section(and the others)can BAN individuals like me,for not conforming to THEIR idea of "free speech".Incredible--no checks and balances for the media.
(THE WEEK.com)
The Washington Post can breathe a bit more easily.
A federal judge in Kentucky on Friday dismissed a defamation lawsuit filed against the Post by Nicholas Sandmann, a student at Covington Catholic High School in Park Hills, Kentucky. Sandmann and his family sought $250 million in damages over the newspaper's reporting about Sandmann's confrontation with a Native American activist on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., in January during an anti-abortion rally in the capital. The report, Politico writes, caused Sandmann, who is white and appeared to be wearing a Make America Great Again hat at the time, to be "castigated" for "apparently intimidating a person of color."
The lawsuit alleged that the Post smeared Sandmann as part of its "war" against President Trump. The paper did later acknowledge it made several errors in its coverage of the incident.
The judge, William O. Bertelsman, ruled that the Post's reporting was projected as free speech and that the paper did not factually report Sandmann had behaved in a violent or menacing way, relying instead on a recounting from Nathan Phillips, the activist, who said the teenager blocked his path. The ruling elaborated that although the reporting may have been inaccurate it was not defamatory.
Bertelsman added that, "while unfortunate," the treatment Sandmann faced on social media was not relevant to the lawsuit. Read more at Politico and The Washington Examiner. Tim O'Donnell
--GRA
It should be noted that good old Nate the day AFTER the Lincoln Memorial incident went to the Catholic Cathedral in DC while services were in progress, tried to barge inside while beating his drum and praying [to the great spirit of course and not JESUS]. The man is an incorrigible trouble maker and has made a business of being an incorrigible trouble maker.
ReplyDelete