Posted on 02/27/2016 2:46:21 PM PST by reaganaut1
Edited on 02/27/2016 2:52:46 PM PST by Admin Moderator. [history]
Feeling maligned by the media, Donald Trump is threatening to weaken First Amendment protections for reporters if he were president and make it easier for him to sue them.
"I love free press. I think it's great," he said Saturday on Fox News Channel, before quickly adding, "We ought to open up the libel laws, and I'm going to do that."
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Trump cannot change case law established under the First Amendment, even if Congress agrees. His ignorance and taste for bullying make him unfit to be President.
Trump will be the next president but he will be a whiny president.
Figures a Cruz fan would be ok with the media knowingly lying about a politician to push their liberal agenda with no consequences. The first amendment does not give the right to knowingly lie. The media gets special protections when reporting on famous figures.
NO one likes a whiner.
Trump promises to be every bit the extra constitutional president Obie is, if not worse.
Congress can’t change the standard for libel established by NY Times v. US (actual malice/reckless disregard) but it can make all kinds of other laws involving disclosure, affiliation, agenda... Stuff like that.
Of course all such laws will be reviewed by the Court from a “free exercise” standpoint but something needs to be done about how partisan and dishonest the national media has become. Democracy cannot survive without an honest report media.
Instead changing libel laws have the FCC fine the offenders.
Oh, $50K per offense.
Enough fines and they will cool their jets
Do you really want the government courts to make the final determination of who is correct and who is incorrect on controversial news stories. The courts have ruled that public figures can only sue for libel in very clearcut cases. That is because we don’t want the government ruling what types of political speech are true or false.
Trump supporters seem to be fine with a government controlled press.
I’m tired of his nonsense. He’s sounding as much the victim as Hillary. What he doesn’t like are unfavorable opinions of him being published. Too bad. That’s the price one pays for running for public office. It’s not nice, or “fair”..but there it is. Suck it up.
This is what Hillary has done her entire public life. When SHE does it we laugh. When Trump does it, it’s different?
They will do what they always do.
Turn the other cheek, bitch about how biased the press is, and lose graciously.
Might as well post a reply to the fifth time this has been posted today.
The press is not sacred. They used to be obliged to report the actual truth, rather than opinion disguised as news.
If I spread lies knowingly about someone - especially for some form of gain - I can be prosecuted for that behavior.
Uhm, isn't that what we have now?
“...when they write purposely negative and horrible and false articles, we can sue them...”
Who will Trump appoint as head of the Negative Article Department?
Yikes, you really want the FCC to be able to fine any news organization or bloggers that they think has lied. Do you think that fact checkers always get everything right? Now, do you think that a liberal bureaucracy will always get things right?
Well then, why not laugh?
“Instead changing libel laws have the FCC fine the offenders.”
Would those fines apply to talk show hosts, their callers, bloggers and those who post on political websites?
Also, let's end reserved seating in the White House briefing room. Why should all networks reporting the same thing each get a seat?, it should be determined by random drawing, with bloggers and freelancers included.
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