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The International Space Station on March 30, photographed by the crew of a Russian Soyuz MS-19 spaceship after undocking from the station.
Former President Donald Trump, who lied tens of thousands of times during his presidency and continues that track record while out of office, is threatening to sue CNN for calling him a liar, among other things. Trump’s complaints against CNN date back to before his 2016 presidential run, around the time Trump defamed himself with a recording in which he talked about sexually assaulting women. Trump’s attorneys sent a 282-page letter to CNN demanding a retraction or correction of statements and news stories that the lawyers assert are defamatory.
The chances of Trump actually suing seem remote, considering that CNN would almost certainly — and gleefully — demand that Trump sit for a lengthy deposition in which pretty much every falsehood and scandalous allegation attributed to him would be fair game for CNN’s lawyers to pursue under oath. Besides, the U.S. Supreme Court has established an exceedingly high bar for public personalities to prove that they were defamed. And truth — including that Trump was a serial liar — is a positive defense.
A CNN spokesperson labeled the threat as “nothing more than a desperate PR stunt” that “doesn’t merit a response.”
In the category of do as I say, not as I do comes Pennsylvania Republican Rep. Glenn Thompson, who proudly celebrated his son’s same-sex wedding just after voting in Washington against a landmark, bipartisan bill to codify same-sex marriage into federal law. The goal of the bill, which awaits Senate approval, is to establish same-sex marital rights in law so that the U.S. Supreme Court can’t reverse those rights as conservative justices did with abortion rights.
A spokesperson said Monday that Rep. Thompson and his wife “were thrilled to attend and celebrate their son’s marriage. … The Thompsons are very happy to welcome their new son-in-law into their family.”
This after the same spokesperson expressed harsh reactions to the Respect for Marriage Act, saying “This bill was nothing more than an election-year messaging stunt for Democrats in Congress who have failed to address historic inflation and out of control prices at gas pumps and grocery stores,” the Centre Daily Times reported.
Forty-seven House Republicans had the guts to support the Respect for Marriage Act, including the third-ranking member, Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York and the woman she replaced, Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming.
U-Haul was lightning quick to offer 30 days of free storage to St. Louisans who may have been displaced because of Tuesday’s massive floods. “Countless families have watched as their homes take on water, leaving damaged possessions behind,” the company’s district vice president, Aaron Freeman, said in a statement. “There will be a significant clean-up process in the coming weeks.”
Freeman said that “anyone impacted by these storms can make use of a storage room or U-Box container at no cost for one month while availability exists” at cooperating U-Haul outlets.
Given the tendency of some companies to exploit disasters and gouge consumers at their most vulnerable moments, it’s nice to see someone buck the trend and lend a helping hand.
For the past two decades, relations between the United States and Russia have been on a roller-coaster trajectory, thawing when the two nations shared the same objective such as their mutual fight against al-Qaeda or ensuring Iran doesn’t build a nuclear bomb while, more often, chilling over issues such as Russia’s invasion of Georgia, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine or the U.S. invasion of Iraq.
The one enduring symbol of brotherly cooperation between the two rival superpowers was their joint space flights and joint operation of the International Space Station. But Russia now says it will pull out of the station after 2024. The imposition of international sanctions after Russia invaded Ukraine may well have instigated the pullout decision following threats earlier this year by Moscow to leave.
U.S. astronaut Scott Kelly told CNN the Russians might be posturing: “I believe Russia will stay as long as they can afford to” because, without the space station, “they have no human space-flight program.” Cooperation in space also lends a level of legitimacy and helps Russian leader Vladimir Putin fend off his growing image as Darth Vader lording over his evil empire.
“Also, ‘after 2024,’ is vague and open ended,” Kelly said, so I think this could be just more bluster.”
One America News, the primary outlet for unapologetic, pro-Donald Trump propaganda disguised as news, was dumped by Verizon’s cable service this week, virtually ending the channel’s ability to be accessed easily on viewers’ home screens. DirecTV had already dumped the channel, depriving OAN of millions more potential viewers. OAN took the high road, portraying the dual dumping as part of a grand Marxist conspiracy to censor the right and deny OAN its supposed First Amendment rights.
The last time we checked, independent companies like Verizon and DirecTV have the right to decline business, especially if they don’t like the product or the terms being offered by a given broadcaster. Only the government is obligated to honor First Amendment rights, and it appears OAN retains its full ability to say anything it wants.
Or almost anything. It was targeted in a major defamation lawsuit and was forced to retract an allegation of election manipulation in Georgia and admit on air that no such fraud occurred.
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Our Saturday editorial briefs analyze items you might have missed in the past week’s news.
The International Space Station on March 30, photographed by the crew of a Russian Soyuz MS-19 spaceship after undocking from the station.
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