I’m not looking for an argument smokin’, but look what we have now. Do we have healthy descent? I don’t think so!
What we have now are communist activists (imo) who eagerly lie, cheat, and steal to get their way.
I don’t pretend to know how we rectify the situation. But the press as it is now is aiding and abetting the destruction of our culture the way I see it.
You do realize that under a “trumpian” libel standard calling some one a communist that you can not prove is a member of a known Communist organization would be libel yes ?
I think you meant "dissent". The other is a genetic thing.
No, we don't have healthy dissent in the media, at least not on TV, but we all know everyone on the tube has a bias. As ugly as that can get, it's the American Way. We are free to agree or not.
Those of us who care are scouring the internet and reading magazines we trust, newspapers we find to be marginally correct (never saw one get it right yet, at least not every time), and doing our own digging, not just accepting things at face value.
What we do not have is a media muzzled by fear of continuous frivolous lawsuits.
As Jefferson said, "I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than to those attending too small a degree of it."
The ability to sue for Libel and Slander already exists. Using that as a hammer to quash any opposing viewpoints or exposure of wrongdoing is not in keeping with the spirit of the First Amendment. That is what would be the likely outcome.