Posted on 10/24/2022 6:24:48 AM PDT by MtnClimber
In conducting its overreach, the government has solidified in the hands and minds of millions of American patriots, and populists the world over, the very message Jones has been spreading.
Infowars founder Alex Jones has finally been forced to pay for his conspiracy theories. A jury has levied civil damages of $965 million on him for speculating that the Sandy Hook shooting was “staged with actors” in a ruling that may change the nature of defamation law nationwide
Few are willing to defend Jones’ remarks about Sandy Hook, and for good reason. His abhorrent mischaracterizations may have inculcated in his large audience such asinine sentiments. Jones is receiving measures of accountability for polluting the public discourse, and some invite this ruling as a welcomed development. But absent leftist screeches, is Jones an outlier? Why does our judicial system not hold to a similar account other media figures caught spreading lies to the masses?
When will the media officials who heralded America’s pointless invasion of Iraq, laundering dubious intel to manipulate the masses in the immediate aftermath of the September 11 attacks, be forced to pay? To this day, these cretins have not endured professional consequences for their actions; they continue to hold privileged positions in society, ironically lecturing the masses on “democracy” and “human rights” after spending the heydays of their respective careers making a mockery of both.
Members of the corporate media continue to peddle similarly harmful falsehoods every day. They never atoned for relentlessly pushing the Trump-is-a-Russian-asset conspiracy theory, which put anything Jones has ever said to shame in terms of its absurdity. They impugned the reputations of hundreds of top U.S. officials, including President Trump himself, and have never admitted wrongdoing, much less been forced to pay a cent. This evidences a double standard: independent figures like Jones are held to one standard of scrutiny, while “journalists” working for deep state propaganda outlets like MSNBC are held to another.
In our age of ever-increasing Orwellian repression, anyone who deviates from the deep state narrative must be castigated, rebuked, scorned, and canceled. Free speech has been replaced as a value by political correctness, with strict thought control from the social media mob enforcing this new regime. It requires moral fortitude to defend the First Amendment rights of someone who makes odious remarks, as Jones clearly has. But even if Jones’ opinions were based on falsehoods and did result in animus fomenting against the Sandy Hook parents, it is his right as a free American to speak freely and, one can argue, speaking freely is an obligation of all journalists covering current events.
Questioning the circumstances related to school shootings is a service that intrepid members of the media provide to the public. Doing so recklessly, as Jones did, has damaged the credibility of this type of analysis. Government cowards have castigated Jones because challenges to official narratives make their lives harder. Oftentimes, corruption gets swept under the rug in the blind rush to blame firearms. School administrators and law enforcement professionals who were derelict in their duty to protect children skirt blame and demonize the Second Amendment rather than facilitating rational and critical analysis of events.
The Parkland, Florida school shooting of 2018 was exacerbated by a cowardly law enforcement officer who sat in his car instead of responding to the threat. The Uvalde, Texas school shooting earlier this year saw cops doddering around and treating parents like terror threats while a vicious psychopath murdered children. Blood stains each one of those law enforcement professionals’ hands. Jones touches the third rail, ascribing these actions to malevolent, grandiose plots when the actual circumstances are far more banal. But his questioning inspires a sentiment that the deep state would rather see excised from the public consciousness: Government officials cannot always keep you safe, tend to be incompetent, and, in crisis scenarios, can make a tragedy so much worse.
Additionally, friends and family members of mass shooting victims often leverage the tragic event to catapult themselves to media stardom. One of the most odious examples of this is David Hogg, the Parkland High School student who did not hesitate to use his dead classmates as stepping stones for his (or perhaps his Fed father’s) national political ambitions. When the Sandy Hook parents chose to go on television and became nationally recognizable media figures, they became fodder for media commentators, like Jones, for better or worse. When these same parents went on the campaign trail to blame the Second Amendment for the shooting and lobby for gun control, they placed themselves in the public eye and therefore waived defamation protections reserved for private citizens.
Alex Jones commented on a news item, referenced public figures, and reacted to already-existing media artifacts about the Sandy Hook shooting. Conspiracy videos about Sandy Hook were going viral without any promotional assistance from Jones’ platform. There is no evidence that Jones ever engaged in personal harassment of any person negatively impacted by the Sandy Hook tragedy. There is no record of profits he received from expressing his opinions on Sandy Hook. There is nothing showing damages, other than feelings of offense, to Sandy Hook parents because of anything Jones said. A jury, spurred on by deep state antagonists and their media lackeys, railroaded Jones. The effort to attack him is part of a broader war against the rule of law.
To see the bigger picture, one must connect the Jones case to the ongoing probes of President Donald J. Trump, which have continued despite a total lack of evidence. Connect the Jones case to Antifa and Black Lives Matter mobs being unleashed on the masses with near-total impunity while January 6 peaceful protesters are kept in disgraceful conditions and solitary confinement and denied a speedy trial. Connect it to recent raids on pro-life activists who stand against the murder of babies and to individuals regularly charged for defending their life and their property against shameless predators. The dichotomy in treatment bestowed on those whom the regime favors and those it disfavors has created a new standard of justice antithetical to American values. Like “Big Guy” Joe Biden himself, it feigns lip service to “democracy” while gleefully and mercilessly punishing its political enemies.
Given the new precedent set by Jones’ trial, what will stop activist lawyers from harassing and persecuting those who called out the bevy of abnormalities, improprieties, and third-world gangsterism that occurred in the 2020 presidential election? Surely such ambulance chasers will find corrupt officials willing to call out legitimate questions of competence as “disinformation” that has caused reputational harm, threats, and anguish. Such cowards will demand an astronomical cash payment and seek to silence anyone who questions them.
What will stop these same lawyers from corralling left-wing extremists who blame COVID-19 deaths on those who spoke out against lockdowns, vaccine mandates, and other authoritarian measures foisted on Americans by out-of-touch deep state elites and demanding monetary compensation because a biased judge and jury determine that “disinformation” about the efficaciousness of muzzles is to blame for tying “Dr.” Fauci’s discredited hands?
The answer to both of these questions, in the wake of the Alex Jones case, is absolutely nothing.
The judgment on Jones sought to shut him up and shut down his media operation, but it also intended to send a signal to the growing legion of people like him—those willing to question popular narratives, disbelieve the media propaganda, and encourage others to think critically against institutional power—that they are not safe. The Biden regime and the deep state at large want to chill our discourse; they know that they are inept, and they know that more Americans come to that realization with each bad decision that they make. And they want to ensure that no one is willing to express these views. As we have seen, Jones has been proven correct on a wide variety of issues throughout the years, and as the Great Reset comes into focus, he looks ever more like a dark prophet of our civilizational doom than a crackpot blowhard who willingly peddles disinformation for self-serving reasons. In that sense, we must recognize that he serves a vital purpose in our national discourse.
Jones may be battered following this judgment against him, but as long as his heart is beating, the establishment will not stop him from spreading his message. Even before the verdict, he was considered a living legend to freedom-minded Americans in the growing patriot movement. Now, he has become a full-blown martyr for free speech. That the Biden regime and deep state had to conspire against Jones so blatantly, rewriting long-standing rules of defamation law, and creating a new legal standard to crucify him, only proves his overriding thesis that shadowy elites operate in unison to control American citizens’ thoughts, minds, and lives. In conducting their overreach, these forces have given Jones everything he has always wanted, and they have solidified in the hands and minds of millions of American Patriots and populists the world over the very message he has been spreading.
That is the kind of judgement that should be handed down to the global warming hoaxers.
This judgement is ridiculous.
The Ministry of Truth has a monopoly on lying to Americans! You either further the lie, or pay SUCKA! Bye bye first amendment. Nice knowin ya…
It's a miscarriage of justice what has been done to Jones.
And that abortion is just for hardship cases like rape, not convenience. Then abortion was done for convenience but only in the 1st trimester, no one will push it be done later. Etc.
It is the very embodiment of an excessive fine.
That is a good idea. Also to the COVID lockdowners and pharma.
Alex Jones was on the Steve Bannon’s war room last week and mentioned another case in Texas plaintiffs are asking for over 2 trillion in damages.
I agree with the article Alex Jones is a test case, just like he was a test case when overnight big tech companies deplatformed him and all his business dealings, which has spread to other conservatives.
The judge,ent was a hostile judgement and a warning message to conservatives that the left with all the8r power will destroy anyone they please. The left are engaged in a hostile takeover of this country, and courts are helping them do it.
Only the beginning. Kanye West had a bank account closed.
“America, land of the free, home of the brave” indeed...
Sure is.
What he said was messed up, but I don’t see defamation.
Obviously I’m not a lawyer...
I’ve never understood the magnitude of the damages levied on Jones. Yes, he made up a fantasy about the shooting, but those that suffered losses certainly knew that it was a fantasy, so why would they have taken him seriously and been mentally tortured by his claim.
yes...I thought I heard Alex explain this as a legal template that they will then use against Kayne.
Let’s see how far down the road this goes.
A billion dollars for having an unpopular opinion.
My how things have changed.
It’s insane. More crushing of freedom and strengthening of woke BS.
I received an F on an opinion paper way back in college, in American Government class. Objected and had it raised to a D. Haha. i
IMO, the parents chose to make themselves public figures. They explicitly and implicitly pushed for the elimination of constitutional rights for which they were justly reviled.
I don’t know the details of the case, but the judgment is ridiculous.
Free speech isn’t free if only speech that doesn’t offend is permitted. Before someone chimes in about how this isn’t really about free speech, because it’s a civil libel case, show me how Alex Jones’ false statements injured the good reputation of the parents to the tune of nearly $ billion. The jury award, in my opinion, wasn’t about actual harm done but more about punishing Jones for politically disfavored speech in general.
In my opinion, Amendment V should apply in cases where punitive damages are sought or not waived.
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