Demoncrats play hardball. Republicans play by “Roberts Rules of Order”. Until we take the gloves off, we will always lose
“Demoncrats play hardball. Republicans play by “Roberts Rules of Order”. Until we take the gloves off, we will always lose.”
I can’t add to this. Complete truth encapsulated.
> Demoncrats play hardball. Republicans play by “Roberts Rules of Order”. <
That’s true when it comes to impeachment, voter fraud, illegal immigration, etc., etc. That’s why I can’t see the GOP surviving as a national party.
What the problem actually consists of is the facts that
- All major US journalism participates in a cartel. The cartel “just is,” as far as journalists are concerned - but in reality it self-organized because all major journalism institutions are wire services and/or members/subscribers thereto. That is, all major journalists are in a continual virtual meeting to discus business. And Adam Smith’s dictum, "People of the same trade seldom meet together, even for merriment and diversion, but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the public, or in some contrivance to raise prices” is exactly correct.
The "conspiracy against the public” functions to define:
- what is, and what is not, news, and
- the connotation and usage of the words “objective,” “liberal,” “moderate,” “centrist,” and “progressive.” All those words actually mean, in journalist cartel lingo, nothing other than cynicism towards society and naiveté towards government. The usage varies only in that “objective” is always applied to journalists and never applied to anyone else; the others apply to anyone who can put on a journalist hat and instantly be accepted by journalists as being “objective.”
- Under the NY Times v. Sullivan decision, “obeying the First Amendment” requires that politicians not sue for libel, and some news sources are “reliable” - and if relied on, other journalists are in the clear as far as libel liability is concerned. That was Justice Brennan writing for an unanimous Warren Court in 1964. The result is Political Correctness - “liberals” being entitled not only to their own opinions but to their own facts.
Obviously, then, the journalism cartel is subject to antitrust law, either civil or criminal.
Less obviously, according to Antonin Scalia, the Sullivan decision is subject to a valid challenge. The reason is that while Sullivan denigrates the right to sue for libel (and thereby get facts certified by a court), the Federalists who were desperate to solidify the ratification of the Constitution and win the acquiescence of the Antifederalist had no desire to modify anyone’s rights. They wanted only to assure everyone that their rights would not change.
Forced to promise a bill of rights to be established via amendment, they passed the first eight amendments listing rights which had been denied by tyrants historically, and they passed the Ninth and Tenth Amendments which reject the idea that the people and states have no rights or powers not listed in the Constitution.
The First Amendment was crafted to not touch libel law, and the Ninth Amendment by implication preserves it intact. If in fact courts thought that 1A affected libel law the way Justice Brennan claimed, there is no reason any libel suit at all would be allowed. But no court has ever claimed that. Sullivan is judicial legislation.
"Demoncrats play hardball. Republicans play by 'Roberts Rules of Order’.” That will continue until and unless the journalism cartel is successfully prosecuted - or sued - for antitrust violations and for libel. I would not be above arguing for a RICO charge as well. It is worth noting that the framers of the Constitution wanted to avoid political parties - and the Democrat Party has joined itself at the hip to the journalism cartel.