Anyone who has read this site knows that we’re no fans of mainstream media. However, we’re also very big fans of the Constitutional 1st Amendment protections given to the press that allows us to gain knowledge about important issues. With Donald Trump threatening to make it easier for libel lawsuits against the media, we’re seeing one of the most dangerous roads that he has proposed travelling.
At a rally in Texas, he said he’s “going to open up our libel laws so when they write purposely negative and horrible and false articles, we can sue them and win lots of money.”
Again, we have been very critical of the majority of mainstream media outlets, but we have the right to be critical just as they have the right to do the things that force us to be critical. That’s one of the most important protections we have as a country in knowing that the news media does not have to operate in fear of retribution from the government or other powerful entities. Other countries have demonstrate that when we limit the freedom of the press, the ones who benefit are the very people that the press can expose.
Libel is bad. People can be hurt when news outlets spread falsehoods that can damage people. However, expanding any form of the law beyond its current Constitutional alignment is the first step towards quashing the free speech that Americans have embraced for two centuries. For someone who claims to be opposed to political correctness, an attack on the 1st Amendment is absolutely unacceptable.
It’s the first step down a very slippery slope that this country simply cannot afford.
.@RealDonaldTrump, we need to talk about #1A.
Trump to Make It Easier To Win Libel Suits Against Media https://t.co/MQUtYKg0SA#SECPrimary— JD Rucker (@0boy) February 26, 2016
Keep in mind that there are already protections in place for public figures that are working extremely well. If a publication publishes a negative piece with the intention of malice, they can and should be sued. How much looser does it have to get to appease Trump’s nefarious goals? Does he want to eliminate the malice portion and make it to where negative pieces cannot be written at all? Is he going to force a burden of proof that would make it next to impossible to expose corruption in a timely manner? Who is he trying to protect if not himself?
By limiting the power of the press to expose his actions, Trump is essentially establishing a barrier between the people and the truths that they want to hear. Any conservative who values the Constitution must oppose Trump’s liberal policy proposals. Even Obama never went this far. Trump is a disaster.
via Soshable http://ift.tt/1QiM7bl
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