The Washington Post Settles With Nicholas Sandmann

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The Washington Post settled a lawsuit filed by the family of a teenager Nicholas Sandmann who was falsely labeled a racist who aggressively attacked an elderly Native American activist during a visit to the Lincoln Memorial with his high school class. The false account of the incident was widely circulated in the media. He was attacked on networks like MSNBC and CNN as well as in newspapers like the Post. He sued the Washington Post for $250 million but the settlement terms were not disclosed.

Sandmann, then 16, was accused by CNN and other outlets of harassing activist Nathan Phillips.  The students denied the accusation but many in the media ran with the attacks on the high school student as a racist Trump supporter abusing an elderly Native American. Videotaped showed it was the Covington students who were being harassed.

In agreeing to the settlement, Sandmann’s counsel stated that his client “agreed to settle with the Post because the Post was quick to publish the whole truth—through its follow-up coverage and editor’s notes.”  That is still not the case with many who viciously attacked this teenager.

We previously discussed the case and the example of one such segment involving “Above the Law” writer Joe Patrice in his interview with The Nation’s Elie Mystal, In the interview, Mystal, the Executive Editor of “Above the Law”, attacked this 16 year old boy as a racist.  Patrice agreed with Mystal’s objections to Sandmann wearing his “racist [MAGA] hat.” They also objected to Sandmann doing interviews trying to defend himself with Mystal deriding how this “17-year-old kid makes the George Zimmerman defense for why he was allowed to deny access to a person of color.” Putting aside the fact that Sandmann was not denying “access to a person of color,”  Mystal and Patrice were comparing this high school student to a man who was accused of murdering an unarmed African American kid and even assailing his effort to clear his name as the media continued to label him a racist. It was typical of much of today’s rage-filled commentary. These two writers had no qualms in attacking some kid as a racist in the national media while abusing him for trying to defend his reputation.  It was the popular thing to do in piling on Sandmann. He was merely a vehicle for the release of rage without the burden of reason or research.

Many writers who joined the mob attacking Sandmann have never apologized.  They just moved on to the next target to be declared a racist in a summary media judgment.

Indeed, Mystal has continued to slam Sandmann in postings on “Above the Law.”  In one such posting, Mystal wrote in part:

Fresh on the heels of Clarence Thomas wishing he could rewrite the First Amendment to make it easier to sue people, we’re getting a glimpse of what that dystopian future would look like. A team of lawyers have filed a $250 million defamation suit against the Washington Post, on behalf of Nick Sandmann and his family.

The suit alleges many bad things happened to Sandmann after his encounter with Nathan Phillips in front to the Lincoln Memorial. It does not allege that there was no encounter in front of Lincoln Memorial, or that the encounter was captured on video. Seeing as a truth is a defense to any defamation claim, it would be surprising for the lawsuit to survive a motion to dismiss.

I generally do not like lawsuits against the media, which often seek to punish good writers or reporters for performing a vital role in our constitutional system. I have repeatedly criticized President Trump for attacks on the media, his lawsuits, and seeking to change defamation rules.  This is the essence of the rationales cited by the Supreme Court for the protections forged in New York Times v. Sullivan  when it created the actual malice standard for public officials. The First Amendment requires “breathing space” to fully protect our constitutional values. Conversely, there is also a need for accountability in the media. The lawsuits like those by Sandmann can play an important role in reinforcing the most basic demands of journalism.  The issue was never whether there was “an encounter” at Lincoln Memorials. Such “encounters” occur all the time in Washington. This encounter became the focus of overwhelming national coverage because it purportedly showed a Trump supporter in a MAGA hat abusing an elderly Native American.

The lawsuit against The Post was reinstated after the court removed claims that were arguably opinions as opposed to factual statements.  The court focused on factual claims that Sandmann “blocked” Phillips and other fact issues that were allowed to proceed to discovery.  The rest of the lawsuit was previously dismissed. Some lawsuits are continuing toward trial.

I am glad that the matter was settled and we avoided the potential for negative precedent against journalists. However, there remain troubling ethical issues. The sense of utter abandon in such false accounts is itself a danger to good journalism.  We have seen recently how even iconic newspapers like The New York Times have yielded to the demand of the echo-journalistic model. The echo in the Sandmann story was to trash a teenager in the national media for something that he did not do. However, his wearing of a MAGA hat was enough evidence to defame him and mark him as a racist.

Even if Mystal believes that everyone wearing such a hat is a racist, there has to be a modicum of lingering decency (even a degree of regret) when a high school student is singled out falsely for abusing a Native American activist.

Notably, Mystal insisted “If enough of the media lives in fear of any teen in a MAGA hat, then this lawsuit was a success even if (when) it gets thrown out of court on a rail.” Mystal somehow makes the media a victim after responsible outlets admitted that it got the story wrong and that Sandmann did not harass this activist. The Post corrected its false reporting as have other outlets like CNN.  Good journalists do not fear teens in MAGA hats.  They fear getting stories wrong and unfairly attacking people without cause.

The Post, unlike Mystal, was not offering opinion commentary. I would defend Mystal’s right to engage in this type of vicious and reckless commentary.  Indeed, I have been a target on the site. It is the price we pay for free speech. We often defend people on this blog with whom we vehemently disagree. Indeed, today I criticized a suggestion of a libel lawsuit from the acting Homeland Security Secretary against Speaker Nancy Pelosi for her calling federal law enforcement officers “stormtroopers.” While insulting and irresponsible, it remains opinion. However, actual journalists have obligations of accuracy and fairness that are not so easily discarded.  This kid did nothing wrong in going to the Lincoln Memorial wearing a MAGA hat. Yet he became virtual chew toy for unhinged and unfair accusations of racism and intimidation.

This settlement was the right thing to do for the Post.

91 thoughts on “The Washington Post Settles With Nicholas Sandmann”

  1. and today we learned the Lin Wood, sandmans atty, is represen ting Carter Page… word on if he’ll represent George Papadopoulus as well.. Throw in Michael Flynn…and thanks to bobby muler, lorena lynchpin, comey et al we are getting a tax HIKE!!! muler has already cost we taxpayers MORE THEN ONE HUNDRED MILLION IN LAWSUITS [whitey bulger and the anthrax case]….

  2. Good for Nick Sandmann, standing up to the high powered media bullies. Due to their erroneous reporting, he got death threats. A Disney executive posted a meme fantasizing about feeding these kids screaming, MAGA hat first, into a woodchipper, and then included a gory scene from Fargo.

    Sue them until they find some journalistic integrity. Sue. Them. All.

  3. I hate the Koch Bros. and find them self-centered hypocritical trash. But this is interesting: when large sums of wealth are associated with a GOP member, Koch’s, Trump, etc…BAD! BAD! BAD!

    When the richest man extant Jeff Bezos (one day a week ago his wealth jumped $15 BILLion) buys The Wash. Post newspaper to enforce Bezos’ world view and desired censorship, GOOD/GOOD/GOOD! The WAPO censors all negative news about Jeff’s corrupt business dealing in the middle east and elsewhere.

  4. Why Were Teenage White Boys (From Kentucky) Attending An Anti-Abortion March In Washington?

    Are these boys likely to ever get pregnant? ..No..! But statistically most of these boys are likely to engage in premarital sex long before they marry. Which could lead to unplanned pregnancies for the girls they date.

    It is also worth noting that Black and Hispanic women are six times more likely to seek abortions than White women. So ‘why’ are White boys (from Kentucky) trying to restrict rights vital to minority women?

    This incident becomes seriously absurd in the sense that all these ‘pro-life’ school boys are wearing MAGA hats, presumably in support of Donald Trump. Trump was essentially a career playboy. Never was Trump known as a church-going ‘family man’. Trump was, however, known to frequent Studio 54, the legendary1970’s discotheque. Trump was also known to visit the legendary Playboy Mansion during visits to Los Angeles.

    During the 2016 presidential campaign we learned that Trump was caught on tape saying he likes to ‘grab women by the pussy’. It then emerged that at least 2 dozen women have complained that Trump forced himself on them with unwanted sexual advances. Since then we have discovered that Trump had relationships with a porn star and Playboy Playmate while married to his current wife, Melania.

    This past week Trump surprised the Washington press corps by publicly acknowledging his longtime acquaintance with Ghisine Maxwell. Maxwell, a fallen British heiress, was recently arrested for assisting the exploits of Jeffrey Epstein, the infamous pedophile who committed suicide last year. In an unusually reserved tone, Trump said, “I wish her well”, in reference to the now-jailed Maxwell. Curiously it was one of the most sincere utterances we have ever heard from Donald Trump!

    Trump would be hard-pressed to deny his acquaintance with Maxwell. Photos of Trump with Epstein and Maxwell have been staples of social media for months at this point. One of the more interesting charges against Maxwell is that she recruited one of Epstein’s victims at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort. Said victim, who was 17 at the time, was working as a Locker Room Attendant. Trump may not have had any knowledge of the recruitment. But his reserved acknowledgement of Maxwell this week is a gift to conspiracy mongers.

    Given Trump’s history as a ‘man about town’, one has to seriously wonder why Catholic school boys (from Kentucky) were wearing MAGA hats to an Anti-Abortion march in Washington.

    1. Poll: Women Deserting Trump

      In a new poll, a significant majority of American women who are registered to vote say they are not likely to support President Trump’s re-election effort in 2020, setting him up with a gender gap that may prove difficult to overcome.

      The June 1-2 Hill-HarrisX survey, 62 percent of female registered voters said they were unlikely to support Trump’s bid to obtain a second term. Fifty-three percent said they were very unlikely to back Trump while 9 percent said they were somewhat unlikely. Thirty-eight percent of women who participated said they were likely to back Trump.

      In the 2016 election, exit polls indicated that 41 percent of women who voted chose Trump meaning that he has likely lost some support from women during his presidency.

      A majority of women of all age groups said they would decline to support Trump while men’s opinions differed based upon their ages. A 57 percent majority of men between 18 and 34 said they were unlikely to support Trump while a narrow majority of men 35 and up, 54 percent, said they were likely to support the president.

      Edited from: “Trump’s Giant Gap: 62% Of Women Say The Are Unlikely To Vote For Him”

      The Hill, 6/6/20

          1. he is the candidate of the Democrat party., that is why

            the Democrat party is about like BLM> it is financed by billionaires like Tom Steyer and Geo Soros

            this is not conspiracy it is FEC data. Steyer is number one donor, and Soros number 2

            globalism is an ideology advanced by billionaires who want to destroy nation states and the inconvenience of national borders’

            because they want more money.
            they will get it if they have free trade, not Trump tariffs.
            they want free movement of goods, capital, and labor. ie cheap migrant labor

            the Democrat party is the party of billonaires who want to destroy America. This is the reality, I have explained the economics in a nutshell. that is your answer

            as a politician Biden is a mercenary just like 99% of them., he has taken on the mantle of BLM even though he used to be against integration in schools way back when. his personal feelings from decades ago do not matter, he has a script to read today. you understand this of course.

            1. Kurtz, back in the 70’s when Biden opposed busing, busing polled in the single digits. Even Blacks were largely opposed to busing based on polls in the 70’s. Busing was extremely unpopular!!

              1. yes for a lot of good reasons. we have good reasons to oppose it now too. how about global warming? all these buses puking out co2, when the fat little children need the exercise of walking anyhow

                i do not claim biden is “Racist” i claim “racist” is overused and meaningless

                but his true allegiances are only to the Democrat donors and that is your billionaire masters Seth. bow down and Lick Bezos shoes. He does not know that we exist nor does he care except that he cares how peasants will vote as a group. because all of us together, could take him down a notch, that’s for sure

                between us and them, stand an army of lying journalists, and various political stooges like biden and pelosi

                keep this in mind. they are green lighting riot and chaos. very clearly now. defunding police as such. this is insanity
                these riots can get small people like us killed. defunding police can unleash th whirlwind in America. it is a very bad idea
                and we will bear the negative economic effects very poorly compared to the richest man in th world who can care less.
                and who always has a security team guarding his backside. i cant afford that! can you>? we need cops, law and order.

                1. Kurtz, those are the Bernie Bros. That is ‘why’ Seattle and Portland are the hotspots. Those cities are bastions of Bernie Bros.

                  Yesterday the NYT ran a story noting that Portland is actually 70% White. So why are Portland’s BLM protests so intense? It’s because that’s where the Bernie Bros reside!

                  And Kurtz, as I remember you were very keen on Bernie. Now you know why Democrats rejected him.

                  1. no Seth. these riots have their share of nutty bernie bros but they are organized by well trained and funded professionals

                    you are misunderstanding this if you think all this is some kind of spontaneous uprising. it isnt. and they rarely are or ever have been.

                    organization calls forth action, organization, leadership, resources deployed to capture more resources. not random bs.

                    this is all put into motion by orders from above, given by paymasters, to professionals — who did a test run back in 2015 at Ferguson, and have been preparing the action ever since

                    BLM is a protection racket, operating as a nonprofit. hey, it wasnt the first! just now the biggest and the baddest

                    but memory calls back to the Pstone rangers and operation PUSH….

                2. Mr Kurtz – I would beg to differ with you. I think Biden is racist. His behavior through his political career shows a trail of racism. I think that Obama selected him because he thought Biden would be easily controlled.

                  1. Paul, you’re not too specific here. But if you’re referring to the 1994 Crime Bill, that passed the Senate by a vote of 95 to 4 with total support from Republicans.

                    1. Peter – I am talking about the remarks about Obama, the remarks about Indians owning stores, The Clarence Thomas hearing. The interview with Charlemagne tha God, etc.

                  2. Paul, the radical left thinks they can control him as well. He never was smart and now the problem of dementia has been added. I can’t decide if Biden is or was ever a racist. He’s so dull one never knows if it is his lack of intelligence guiding him or racism.

                1. Paul, so am I. Kids need to go to school in their own communities for a number of practical reasons.

                  1. the demise of the local school is one of the sad and unreported stories in the last 4 decades long social atomization

                    I used to work with public school teachers, volunteers and union leadership in supporting local school community initiatives out here in the Rust belt
                    imagine me, reading books to little kids, poor ones mostly, and mostly black in fact. volunteering; not even getting paid.
                    yeah, it happened. it was fun and constructive social activity at the time., i dont regret it.

                    that school is closed now or slated to be closed. a local university which shall remain unnamed– has gobbled up all the adjacent real estate and destroyed the fabric of that neighborhood entirely, and ethnically cleansed it (not intentionally of course) and replaced them all with a bunch of snooty professors and university bureaucrats.

                    the intention was not to help blacks nor whites., nor oppress either,. the intention was to ratchet up the university rackets. which only see “green”
                    what a big fat lie to call universities nonprofits. and do they pay their fair share of real estate taxes? oh, usually, they pay what seems like a lot, compared to other outfits, but is it ever anywhere near a market value? oh my God, the stories I could tell. but I assure you there is a very very good reason that most real estate development executives, and most university executives, are Democrats. they know how to “get things done” in cities!

                    the truth is most cities kiss the university backsides as hard as they can, give them whatever they want, suck up to them in ways that people don’t know about and cant imagine. how do these university nonprofits become swimming in the billions even as they belly up to the poorest of the poor, geographically?

                    oh and sports is a big part of the delusion too. they get these young black guys out there playing ball not only to gain fame and funds for the universities through the sports sales; but also— to distract black people from understanding how the universities don’t pay their fair share in real estate taxes to the local schools, i tell you, it’s all very cunning.

                    economists could measure it and lay it all out, except guess who they all work for, mostly? yes, universities employ most of them, who could, from city to city, that’s right.

                    1. Kurtz, universities and medical centers are crucial employers in many cities.

                      Philadelphia, for instance, is largely dependent on universities (as economic streams). In recent years gentrification in Philly has largely revolved around university communities.

                    2. yes seth exactly. —often they are the biggest employers, precisely as you say.

                      the nonprofit sector leviathans, crowding out private enterprise, with all their tax free donations and government grants

                      of course they are often the biggest urban employers

                      and like i said they dont pay anywhere near their fair share of real estate taxes and mostly through secret deals that involve serious corruption
                      this is mostly below the radar of federal prosecutors and FBI of course, they knew who NOT to mess with!

                      now, even though Im a white guy and I have no fear of thinking of my group interests politically, i tell you, I have no liking for gentrification of urban enclaves by a bunch of stuffed shirt phonies the likes of which habitually infest the ranks of university bureaucracies. most of all, i hate how it’s done in such a sneaky way, so often.

                      i think it’s interesting how they always find a way to deflect attention from their plundersome rackets, leaving other people picking up crumbs, by loudly proclaiming their support for stuff like BLM


                      Last I checked, the expenditures of state colleges and universities amount to 0.6% of gross output.

              2. Which is why it took a Republican like Richard Nixon to implement busing and school integration in general. Carter, remember, was elected governor of Georgia on the Dixiecrat ticket, and LBJ left integration largely undone. Joe Biden caucused with the same Dixiecrats whose party gave us Jimmy Carter. The Republican “pivot” of the 1970s is a fairy tale.

                1. Loupgarus, show us a supporting article, from a recognizable source, that says Jimmie Carter was elected Governor of George on a ‘Dixiecrat’ ticket.

                  Carter served as governor of Georgia in the 1970’s, long after Dixiecrats were a force.

                  1. Carter served as governor of Georgia in the 1970’s, long after Dixiecrats were a force.

                    Carter’s running mate in 1970 was Lester Maddox, the previous Governor.

          2. The mentaly incompetent need not apologize. Joe Biden should be in an assisted living community.

            1. Bob, after Trump’s remark about “injecting bleach”, the spin that Biden is ‘senile’ is the dog that won’t hunt.


                It is a thought problem.

      1. Peter – I have been polled twice and I lied both times. On one I was a 25-45 y/o black and on the other I was female. Just a hint. Do not believe the polls.

        1. Paul, Trump’s own internal polls are showing Biden with double-digit leads. That’s the reason Trump is suddenly serious about the pandemic. His own polls show that Americans feel Trump botched the entire pandemic response.

            1. Likely recycling either the Bezos Birdcage Liner or the Sulzberger Birdcage Liner. It doesn’t occur to Peter than stories whose sources are anonymous might just be concocted out of whole cloth.

    2. “Black and Hispanic women are six times more likely to seek abortions than White women. So ‘why’ are White boys …”?

      Paint Chip’s logic is extraordinarily stupid. Aside from the fact that these boys were rallying against the culture of death their concerns cross over the racial barriers. The people that have created the democrat cities of death for young blacks (that were permitted to be born) over the years predomonantly weren’t black so Paint Chips is questioning why they should have involved themselves in trying to stop the killing fields in these cities? I guess we had a lot of democrat Paint Chips that included many different colors running those cities and felt it wasn’t their problem so why bother stopping the killing.

    3. I’m sure that if they had it to do all over again, knowing what “support” Sandmann and his classmates got for lending support to the Church’s causes, Covington Catholic High’s students would politely thank the Bishop of Covington and decline the next chance to do the Bishop’s errands for him.


      Why are you asking stupid question?

      1. Oh, honey, there’s no such thing…as a ‘stupid question.’

        Why would a simple question get under your skin?

        1. There are, however, stupid comments and I see that Stupid Anonymous is at it again @ 9:07, 9:34, 9:40.

          Time is treasure, Stupid Anon.

    5. Seth:

      Did you know Playboy is a play on words?

      Playboy, Play-boy.

      Its bc 90 % of the women posting nude are transgender.

      And they were the choker around their neck to hide the double pronged Adams apple of a Man.

      You can get a Tracheal Shave, and lots do, but it grows back, so it is maintenance.

      Its called Female Feminization Surgey. Popular in Thailand, Brazil, Korea.

      You know what Victoria Secrets secret was? Transgender, boobs up top, d*ck below, nip and tuck.

      Victoria was a Victor.

      When they’re young, they look really good like almost exotic foreign alien look to them. But when they get older post-40 yo, you cant hide the man anymore. That T hormone is too strong.

      Sure, make up and long hair helps, but not forever.

    6. So let’s see . . . these boys may soon become sexually active. So, they should not have an opinion on abortion? Does that make any sense. Statistically, they may never be gang-raped, so does that mean they should not be in favor of criminalizing gang rape?

      We are either a pluralistic society, with everyone accorded their rights to weigh in on issues respecting our joint polity — or we will become a Balkanized group of separate societies in constant war with one another.

      And, while I’m at it, I’m surprised Seth Warner didn’t get around to putting the blame for all societal ills where it belongs: Trump. And Zionism.

    1. Can you think of any possible damages that you would have if you were publicly and repeatedly called a ‘racist’ in the national media? Reputation, maybe? Future business opportunities?

      1. My apologies.

        Thank you.

        I stand corrected.

        Allow me to rephrase the question.

        How much money is, well, to be sure, “are” his attorney and Nicholas Sandmann going to obtain?

        1. Geo. So, what the hell is your point??

          As a Paralegal, I can tell you factually that civil suits generally have 2 levels of Lawyer compensation. the first is 1/3 of the settlement, without going to court, and 40% if they go to court. This is textbook rate.

          SO, WHAT’S IT TO YA, ANYWAY?

          1. By the way, were I Sandmann, I would have hired counsel on a lower, negotiated, fixed-fee and contingent as this case was a slam dunk.


    – Theodore Roosevelt

    “If you severely restrict the vote, it is rational and coherent.”

    – Mr. America

  6. Small change recommended-

    “He was merely a vehicle for the release of rage without the burden of
    reason or research.”


    He was deceptively used as a vehicle for the development of a rage narrative
    without the burden of reason or research.


    The Post on it’s 1st day coverage included an interview with video of the Indian jerk o.. in which he misrepresented and defamed Sandman’s actions. The next day they posted another video with discussion which showed from another angle the entire scene and the fact that Sandman did nothing the jerk o.. Indian accused him of doing. I don’t remember if there were any opinion columns in the Post attacking Sandman – easily could have been as it became too quickly a faux outrage story, nor do I know if that would be part of the suit or agreement, but the WaPo news coverage was without fault in my opinion and rightly corrected the 1st day coverage which was dominated by the ferk o.. Indian. Since he was part of the incident, reporting his statements was newsworthy.

  8. The NYT vs Sullivan seems to have given the right to libel individuals almost at will. The Post didn’t want the impact of the Sullivan case to be abridged, therefore a settlement. Things move in cycles. Are we on the downward curve of the news media abuses. If not Sullivan should be looked into again.

    1. Allan – Sandmann is clearly a private citizen, not a public figure or limited public figure. I am not sure Sullivan comes into play.

      1. George Zimmerman was a private citizen too. An NBC affiliate was still permitted by our awful judiciary to defame him – purposely and self-consciously.

          1. The term ‘private citizen’ does not mean what you fancy it means. And it hardly matters that he was under investigation. They deliberately doctored an audio tape to alter what he said.

            One of these days, you might advance a position that is neither malicious nor dishonest. You’ve never done so yet.

          2. A criminal defendant has the presumption of innocence until found guilty. I don’t think “private citizen” means what you think it does. Zimmerman didn’t lose his right not to be libelled, which he purposefully.was by means of an audio forgery (not the first time NBC News has forged audio and video evidence to support a false statement in its reporting).

      2. There seems to be a grey area and that needs to be better defined or a revised SCOTUS decision to alter the law.

        1. Narrowly defined legal terms often has the effect of blocking out legal terms meant to cover very broad set of legal issues… AKA USC w/Bill Of Rights, etc…

          AKA: The Founders had a very different concept in mind then recent polecats work towards. Don’t lock yourself in a prison of your own design.

          1. I’m not sure where you are heading OKY. Are you looking for total freedom so that libelling another can be the norm?

    2. What the news journalists really fear is not lawsuits

      what they have coming isnt lawsuits either., rather, an older form of justice

      but keep an eye on who pays them: Jeff Bezos

      this is all about making more money for guys like him. that’s what this is all about

      he wants to increase the top line, his gross,the earnings, that is what every big fish looks at most of all

      the expenses along the way bear little attention compared to the gross. it is a mental habit of entrepreneurs and execs

  9. THE Main Street Media need to be taught a very expensive lesson, if they are going to Nuts/anything to do with Trump and ignore the truth/facts then they need to PAY BIG TIME, Nichols Sandman now has settled two suits in his favor and many more to go, Its time to make them pay, MSM, $$$$$$$$.

    How long will Bezos put up with law suits????

    Journalism is Dead, they are all crazy radical political hacks.

    1. Bezos is the richest man in history. He can pay lawsuits for centuries after he is dead. watch Citizen Kane. t

      his is the Achilles heel of America our bogus concept of a socalled Free press which is actually just ever more the tool of billionaire propaganda.

      other billionaires like jack dorsey twitter boss literally has robots doing his censorship for him: AI routines do most of the censorship of Trump people now.
      not enough paid employees to cancel all the accounts Jack dorsey doesnt like!

      Some freedom of speech we have now. Freedom like here where maybe ten to a hundred people will read us or ever see what we say.

      meanwhile jack dorsey can silence millions of people on twitter.

      we are restricted in our own minds by this free speech tripe now. it only works for THEM.
      totally bogus slogans, out of step with reality and facts.

      ditch these out of date enlightenment bromides fast folks, they are holding us back


    The Legal Talk Above The Law is now smirking all the way to the egg on their face. Two down and many left to pay the price!!!
    Since when is it against the law to wear a hat – with any inscription, Hmmm? But IT SHOULD BE against the law for meatheads like Elie Mystal and Joe Patrice for talking about an incident which they CLEARLY KNEW VERY LITTLE ABOUT – but felt compelled to join the cast of thousands to condemn him. These guys are idiots. Their site also DOES NOT ALLOW COMMENTS. AND THAT SAYS ALL THERE NEEDS TO BE SAID ABOUT THEIR SITE. Gowd, what a waste of carbon, electrons, airwaves, etc, etc.

    1. The comments made by Mystal and Patrice clearly were malicious in nature – and so are probably not protected by New York Times Co. v. Sullivan.. Here’s hoping they and their publications suffer severely. While ordinarily I favor free speech as the remedy for bad or even evil speech, the press pile-on in Nicholas Sandmann’s case caused him to be wrongly suspended from his high school. Mystal, Patrice, the New York Times’ Maggie Haberman and the rest of the nation’s editorial writers very neatly discovered where their enhanced free speech rights under New York Times Co. v. Sullivan end and the rights of a teen-age boy on an field trip begin to not be defamed begin. I hope young Mr Sandmann’s college fund swells accordingly.

  11. Disagree. It’s time to put an end to Earl Warren’s little bon-bon to the press, New York Times v. Sullivan, and allow our media to feel the full force of British-style defamation law. If you want to see actual reporting these days, you have to go to the British media, because it simply isn’t done anymore.

    A white back, John Leo offered that reporters write stories with templates, and much of the bad reporting you see is due to the author using an invalid template rather than actually gathering facts. The story’s already written before the first subject is interviewed. The media have grown more unprofessional, dishonest, and vicious in the intervening years and now traffic in memes. That they’re held accountable for it is what’s odd here. (Note the lies about the late MS Adams appearing in his obituaries).

    I should note that these characters were attacked by the diocesan chancery in Covington and also by Nicholas Frankovich of National Review. The chancery offered an apology and Frankovich offered a statement meant to satisfy his irate supervisor while retracting as little as possible. These young know now, if they didn’t before, how people like the Bishop of Covington and the deputy publisher of National Review interpret incomplete and ambiguous information. Your bishop ain’t your friend and the NeverTrump press ain’t either.

      1. I won’t quite hope for that bishop to go to hell, but almost. Scum. Their apology was not strong enough. Rome leans way far left.

        Today’s version of Simon the Zealot (later changed to Peter the alleged Rock of the Catholic Church and first Pope) would be a rock tossing radical leftist. Mathew the tax collector would be a government stalwart. Beyond Peter being chosen as the Rock, there’s no mention of God favoring one over the other. There’s also no mention of any disagreement between them. Why? Because politics is not related to the gospel.


          Perhaps not the Gospel, but Paul’s letters are often political potboilers (even leaving out spicy apocrypha such as The Acts of Paul and Thecla ).

    1. … all the way to the university on the planet of his choice. I’m sure that by the time young Sandmann’s ready for post-graduate work, Elon Musk will have endowed a campus on the 4th Rock from the Sun.

  12. I look forward to the day when an “unidentified source close to the Sandmans” leaks the details of the settlements so we can revel in these institutions being punished for lies and false reporting. If the Sandmans are reading this, please share with your “unidentified” source and get the information out there!!

    1. PCS, I do think that somewhere along this road paved with gold, there will be discovery. One can only hope the hell their is.

  13. Speaking of the media getting it wrong, I was frankly surprised to hear Chris Wallace on FoxNews yesterday referring repeatedly to Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ar) as advocating the use of Federal troops to restore order in American cities in the op-ed piece he wrote in the NY Times, when Cotton clarified after the op-ed appeared that the problem was the headline above the op-ed, which was not written by him, and in fact in the op-ed itself, he was only indicating that Federal troops were one *option* available for restoring order, and not necessarily the first choice. I thought this was surprisingly sloppy reporting from Wallace, one of FoxNews’s senior people.

    1. Jltournier1: Chris Wallace is clearly not fair and balanced. Nor does (IMO) he care to get it right. I guess that its is OK for him to trash his own reputation. Well Mr. Wallace, you just keep doing that!

  14. One perspective says that lawsuits chill journalism; another says that lawsuits protect people from predatory journalists.

    Both are right, but in this case a young man was savaged for little reason (other than the press saw a chance to bolster it’s TDS bonafides).

    Another perspective.

    Filing and maintaining a lawsuit is difficult, exhausting, and all consuming. Anybody who has pursued justice in the courts knows that it is a serious undertaking.

    Admire the tenacity of this family for doing the right thing in spite of tremendous hardship.

    1. And may God protect the Sandmanns from “friendly suits” intended to grab as much money from Nicholas and his family in billable hours and other costs as possible. Dickens’ “Jarndyce v Jarndyce” in Bleak House was inspired by too many actual cases.

      1. Jaryndyce v Jarndyce — what we call a “career making case”


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