When the news dropped last Tuesday I was shocked. They had Fox, they really did, and yet Dominion let them go for just $787.5 million.
Trial by jury takes time, a lot of time, years even, and the outcome is never certain. It was rather a lot of money on the table, so I get it. Dominion have other cases and now have the funds to run them, so they are moving on. This “resolution” is also for all of us Bullcrap because the public exposure of Fox via the trial does not get to happen.
The good news is that it is all just the beginning. Here is where things stand right now …
Dominion is Still Suing (legal updates here) all these …
- NewsMax
- OANN
- Sidney Powell
- Rudy Giuliani
- Mike Lindell
- Patrick Byrne
Meanwhile Smartmatic is suing (legal updates here) all these …
- Fox News
- NewsMax
- OANN
- Sidney Powell
- Rudy Giuliani
- Jeanine Pirro
- Maria Bartiromo
- Lou Dobbs
All of them, including Fox News will still face legal consequences.
For the Smartmatic vs Fox News case, Smartmatic has stated now that they want more than Dominion’s $787 million payout, plus a retraction from Fox for its 2020 election lies. In other words, Dominion have set the settlement bar for Fox …
“They need to get an apology. They need to get a full retraction,” – Smartmatic lawyer Erik Connolly
They have also previously filed a legal order for Fox to turn over all legal documents from the Dominion case. So far Fox has failed to do this and so Smartmatic are now seeking legal sanctions against Fox forcing them to comply.
In other words, the Dominion vs Fox settlement not the end-game of the consequences of lying for Fox, there is much more to come.
Moving on, below you will once again find my usual selection of some truly bizarre and extreme claims that have popped up during the last 7 days. Each is laced with my snarky commentary. With my usual hat tip to my various sources, let’s dive in.
Enjoy.
The Cult of Trump
Trump says Barr didn’t have the courage “to go out and do what you had to do with respect to the election and the election numbers”
- It is really not good when you discover that Bill Barr is the one with the most integrity in your administration.
- Oh come on now folks, this next quip is just screaming at you … the Barr here is really very very low.
Guns
Edward Szall and Lauren Witzke defend Andrew Lester, the elderly white man who shot Black teenager Ralph Yarl, with Witzke predicting that she’ll soon have to flee the country because white people are under attack.
- You do have to wonder what nation would seriously consider having her.
- Mexico perhaps because she used to run drugs for Mexican cartels. (I’m not making that up, she really did that)
Homophobia on Steroids
Larry Tomczak says that “only God can stop this demonic ‘gay pride’ agenda”: “We cannot afford the luxury of neutrality, non-involvement and simply nice Sunday services with ominous storm clouds gathering for these final epic battles.”
- There is literally no “agenda”. Being gay is not a choice, it is how some people are.
Misogyney
Andrew Anglin tells his male followers that “a woman can’t love you back because she doesn’t have a soul.”
- If you are wondering who this guy is, it’s this guy. That’s his Wikipedia page, and even that requires a bucket for you to throw up into if you dare to go see what he is all about; he is that toxic.
- He only wants to associate with members of his own race, and explains that “By the Grace of God, I found Adolf Hitler“. Apparently he also wants to narrow that further down to just white male nazis.
- Things that are not a surprise: There is an outstanding warrant for his arrest that was issued last Nov.
- Meanwhile, as you can most probably guess, he is indeed single.
Ali Alexander
Earlier in the past week Ali Alexander released a statement in response to allegations that he has a long history of propositioning underage males in which he admitted that he’s been “battling” same-sex attraction and sent “inappropriate messages” while insisting that “nothing unlawful has occurred.”
- The issue is not that Ali is gay but rather his gross hypocrisy. He has openly supported deeply toxic homophobic individuals.
Then a bit later in the week came the plot twist. He now vows that he will be “suing over false claims made about me publicly” related to the allegations that he has a history of seeking sexually explicit material from underage boys … the stuff he admitted to earlier in the week.
- Well, come on now, honestly, what did you expect when you consider that this is the guy who has previously claimed he can time travel and is just like Jesus.
Truly Bizarre
“The Phantom of the Opera” ended its run on Broadway after 35 years, and MAGA pastor Shane Vaughn knows that President Joe Biden is to blame.
- The real reason is the high running costs and lower numbers of tourists. For Shane, that is all Biden’s fault.
- Reminder: Shane is the pastor who went to jail a few years back for running an insurance scam, I’m not exactly convinced he is a credible source for anything related to finance, or for that matter, anything at all.
Matt Evans (aka Beardson Beardly) is convinced that he could “have any woman” he wants, but he doesn’t want any because he’s an incel.
- Since “incel” is short for “involuntarily celibate,” it makes zero sense.
Anna Perez has a simple test for determining if someone is a “fake conservative”: She simply uses the word “f*ggot” a bunch, and if they don’t think it’s hilarious, she knows they’re a RINO.
- So yes, her claim is basically that you must be an obnoxious homophobic bigot to be a “true” Republican
James Dobson warns that “it’s not an overstatement to say that our constitutional republic, as we’ve known it, is hanging perilously by a very thin thread.”
- He is right … but perhaps does not appreciate that he is one of the guys working really hard to cut that thin thread.
- If you are wondering who he is, he is the founder of “Focus on (hating the gays)”
And so there was also this bit of weirdness reported by Hemant …
“Free” Speech for $8 per Month
The Media Research Center is attempting to mock progressive billionaire philanthropist George Soros for being a “cheapskate” for refusing to pay $8 a month to get a blue check mark on Twitter.
- Fact Check: Elon wiped all blue ticks for folks that don’t pay for it this past week. If you don’t have one, be aware that many good names also don’t such as NY Times, the Pope, and Jack Dorsey the founder of Twitter. Meanwhile, the folks who do have one include Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity. Not having it really is now an “achievement unlocked” bit of Twitter gameplay.
- What the “Media Research Center” fails to grasp is that its not about $8, but rather is about not funding the guy who blows up both rockets and also Twitter.
Meanwhile, if you are wondering how well taking the blue badges away from all non-paying accounts is working out, the answer is that it is indeed yet another Elon inspired dumpster fire …
Interesting Articles
- Ariane de Vogue @ CNN: Clarence Thomas to amend financial disclosure forms to reflect sale to GOP megadonor.
- Joe Jervis: Ex-Gay” Extremist Milo Has Ghostwritten A Book For MTG Titled The Case For Christian Nationalism.
- Adam Nagourney and Jeremy W. Peters @ The New York Times: How a Campaign Against Transgender Rights Mobilized Conservatives.
- David Edwards @ Raw Story: ‘It’s End Times!’ Mike Lindell goes berserk fearing artificial intelligence in voting machines.
- Prem Thakker @ The New Republic: Ron DeSantis’s Director Is Literally Cheering on LGBTQ Parents Fleeing Florida.
- Mia Gingerich @ Media Matters: Right-wing media figures defending Uganda’s anti-gay law are connected to organizations that helped inspire it.
- Zachary Petrizzo @ The Daily Beast: Trump Turns on His Old Lawyer for DeSantis Disloyalty.
- Tori Otten @ The New Republic: Florida Expands “Don’t Say Gay” Law Through High School.
Statistic of the week
This week’s no hope for 2024 candidate is …
Anti-vax conspiracy theorist Robert F. Kennedy is running for president as a Democrat, but he seems to be winning fans among extremists on the far-right.
- Its because he was doing anti-vaccine long before COVID
Sometimes they do see a chink of light
Fresh out of prison after serving a 60-day sentence for his role in the Jan. 6 insurrection, Tim Gionet (aka Baked Alaska) is coming to a realization: “i can’t believe i went to prison for an nft salesman.”
- I can only wish that his “realisation” went a bit deeper than just that. Apparently he still loves Trump.
Nailed it
It’s always amazing when a powerful politician is screeching about how “someone should do something about this!!!” and simply fails to grasp that it’s literally his job to “do something about it”.
“Freedom” Caucus
Zooey issued this formal statement …
This is what happens with today’s GOP running the House …
Infighting
Nick Fuentes has declared “war” on Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene for retweeting The Daily Beast article about the Ali Alexander scandal and vowed to launch a campaign to ensure that “every voter in northwest Georgia [knows] this woman hired a pedophile Jew named Milo [Yiannopoulos].”
- Yep, it is indeed time to break out the popcorn, sit back and enjoy the show as they proceed to rip each other apart.
GOP Strategy
No vote winning ideas at all, just voter suppression to stop people who will not vote for them from voting. That appears to be their entire strategy.
A little bit off topic … a WTF item
If you are going to do a startup, then you really do need to think rather carefully about the name you choose, it really just must be Reich.
I can only wonder if they might be interested in my new link building service called Mussolinki.
Epic Burn of the week
If you attempt to go toe to toe with Pete on twitter then be aware that you will not win …
He goes on to tweet back to her …
We estimate its impact on FRA would mean about 1,000 fewer rail safety inspection days next year and 30,000 fewer miles of track inspected annually.
If you care about preventing derailments, please change course and help us increase accountability for freight railroads.
This past week the NYPost also attempted to have a go at him for doing something they thought was dumb. He happily explained it all to them …
You might also enjoy this clip via Hari
Meanwhile …
So yes, they thought Dave was actually being sincere and simply did not get that he was mocking them …
Yes … this next clip really is Trump with Giuliani in Drag … seriously it is them and not actors.