This impeachment process has probably been the craziest thing to ever happen to American politics. We’ve seen more extreme events, to be sure, but none have quite captured the essence of circus monkeys the way the Democrats are now.
Every time you turn on C-Span, you almost expect to hear the theme song from Benny Hill. In an attempt to “get Trump,” the entire left has completely massacred itself. It’s truly spectacular, and one of the best cases is with MSNBC “journalist” Rachel Maddow.
She’s in big trouble, and it’s all because of Trump Derangement Syndrome.
This story doesn’t start with Maddow or MSNBC. Instead, it begins with a different news outlet. One America News (OAN) is a conservative media outlet. They’re open about it, and in an attempt to get scoops and better resources, they hire people with diverse experience and skill sets.
One hire that got them in trouble was Kristian Brunovich Rouz. While reporting for OAN, he also worked with Sputnik. For anyone unfamiliar, that is literally a Russian propaganda outlet. OAN was criticized for this hire, and rightly so.
Enter Rachel Maddow.
This is where Maddow got herself into trouble. She could have criticized OAN for hiring a Russian propaganda agent. That’s a legitimate criticism. Unfortunately, her leftist mind couldn’t relegate itself to the realm of reasonable criticism. Instead, she had to go off the deep end (as she always does) because President Trump once tweeted that he liked the network.
On the air, Maddow said “[OAN] really literally is paid Russian propaganda.” She claimed the whole network is a Russian mouthpiece because one employee had a conflict of interest.
For those who might be interested, there is absolutely no record, anywhere, of OAN ever accepting money from Russia or Russian agents. Clearly, they aren’t a Russian propaganda network. They made one questionable hire, but that doesn’t discredit all of the things they’ve done right over the years.
So, as you might expect, OAN is suing Maddow. She crossed a line, and they’re claiming that she defamed their network. Maddow’s attorneys came up with a beautiful defense. They claim that when she said “literally,” she didn’t literally mean it. It’s a stupid defense and reminiscent of when Bill Clinton’s lawyers argued about the definition of “is.”
There’s a very good chance that Maddow’s attempt to use strong language for hyperbole painted her into a legal corner. She may not have believed that OAN is literally Russian propaganda, but when it comes to edited, vetted journalism, that’s not a word you can really misuse.
If, as a journalist, you claim something is literally true, you’d better be able to back it up. We’ll have to wait and see how the courts rule, but there’s a good chance Maddow and her team will have to settle. She didn’t give herself any wiggle room.
The bigger picture here is justice. MSNBC and liberal media have been running roughshod over the truth for decades. It’s always nice to see a little comeuppance. Between the Covington kids moving forward with their suits and this beautiful piece of libel, mainstream media is about to lose a lot of pocket change.
