Support the Meidas Touch Network. Continue reading Tom and Heather and Robert and Joyce et al. for reliable news reports and informed, intelligent perspectives by the authors and in comments by most of their readers.
My love for Dick Van Dyke as a Disney legend and for "Mary Poppins" doesn't stop me from remembering that Walt Disney tried to break the animators union and saw communists under every bush in Hollywood. Not much has changed.
Trump will characterize this as a case that shows he's "innocent" of sexual assault. No one will correct him. The best media will not only seek access but will publish and shun. The guy's ever-presence in the media is exhausting, like a toilet that will just never flush, a housefly that will never land, and a car horn that's permanently stuck. I was all for shining the lamp of journalism on his every misdeed, but there will be no misdeeds for his official acts. Next best is to make him strain for attention, reach new heights of outrageousness until he hits peak blood pressure in seeking attention. My New Year's resolution is to ignore stories about him and spend that time leaving warnings wherever I go and sending postcards to the cluck enablers in DC letting them know how weak and craven Trump continues to make them look. Down with MSM and up with Substack, Meidas, and the Your Tubers. Back to independent journalism like in the days of I.F. Stone.
Not remotely surprising. Print corporate media and entertainment media are the same. We no longer need to pretend that the consumer is anything other than a contributor to them.
I hope to live long enough to see these assholes get their comeuppance. "I was just kissing ass," will be the 21st century version of "I was just following orders."
I wonder if, just perhaps, part of the thinking behind the offer to settle was concern that if the case went to the Extreme Court after it was tossed out on summary judgment, the court--particularly given how servile it is to Trump--would reverse NY Times v. Sullivan, greatly weakening the press' right of inquiry. Now, was that a reason? Or a rationalization? Or was it not thought about at the corporate offices? (And, by the way, TC, I'm not at all sure that Trump's other sexual assaults could have been brought up at the deposition. I don't see how they come under even the broad standard of relevance--somewhat narrowed in the past couple of years--that applies to discovery in lawsuits. If one of them had been raised, Trump's lawyers would have demanded that the deposition be halted so that they could seek a ruling from the judge. If the judge ruled the question proper, Trump would have sought to appeal, which he should not be able to do, but the rules have been bent before.)
If this whole fucking mess was a Disney movie and the lying insurrectionist villain was finally going to be forced to appear in court to testify under oath against the representatives of truth and justice I wonder how the script would find the Disney Happy Ending, because I don't see it here..
Defamation lawsuits are a common tactic among authoritarian governments which operate within a seeming democratic structure. The Lee family in Singapore have used the tactic to preclude criticism for decades.
... and now with the added benefit of being able to pass millions of dollars legally. Need to get money from an energy company in exchange for access to resources on public lands? A representative just has to say something you don't like, you bring a frivolous law suit for defamation, settle before any evidence is public so who can tell how much of a case you may have had? A few million to a shell company or someplace you can easily milk, and "here are the permits". Right out in the open and legal as far as anyone can say. Anyone who isn't willing to be hit with a defamation case that is...
Gives new meaning to "money laundering" doesn't it? Only the water being used is sewage, which does stink to high heaven and is "right out in the open and legal as far as anyone can say" as you noted.
Ditto the extreme British Unionists in Northern Ireland. Maybe it’s a British Empire legal template. Remember Trump’s best buddies, Murdoch and Musk, are both British colonials.
Thanks Tom, I fully agree. I've been to Disney land twice in my life, once in 1965 and once in 2006- firs time to take my children, last time to take my remaining daughter and her two children so, it would be meaningless for me to boycott. I'm well past the age where I enjoy cartoons, never liked comic books. Rarely watched ABC. But I am sorry the only place to get news that is honest and truthful is here on Substack. I used to be a news junkie, watched CBS, CNN, NBC nightly for 3 or 4 hours. Bur I got so fed up and angry I had my cable disconnected May 2023 and haven't watched TV since.
Well, the movie channels r still worthwhile.. Noticed Max s streaming the Lord of he Rings trilogy so I am downloading them this week. That' an appropriate story for our times.
I have Netflix, for streaming. I'm in the process of giving my TV, TV cabinet and all region DVD player and the rest of my DVDs to my youngest Granddaughter. In process because she was supposed to pick them up today but didn't quite make it.
Me too, When I taught science I used a lot of his science films to illustrate the ocean, insects, the heart and blood streams. He did a lot of good things. He was one of the few wealthy men who believed in sharing
Appeasement never works. Just ask Neville Chamberlain. By obeying in advance, these people and entities are displaying weakness and Trump hates weakness. I would argue that by doing this, they are enlarging the bullseye targets on their backs.
Don't mind if I do... blame ABC too that is. I'll blame Disney too. And I'll blame George Stephanopolous as well. According to Ben Meisalas of Meidas Touch, he makes 15 million per year and is currently personally worth around 100 million and has extremely strong name recognition so he could very well have resigned if the network would not stand behind him. His statement was not a defamation, it was not inaccurate other than within the context of a NY legal setting (which he was not speaking within), and it is laughable that Trump blithely admitted he had sexually abused the victim but felt embarrassed to have it said he had raped her: Just not credible. There was no reason to cave in a frivolous case brought to harass and send a message and which would most likely have been withdrawn, except to enable a legal means to pass money to Trump. Disney may have called the shots and ABC may have just been the right hand, but George S. was the bird in the hand that could have flown off. Disney did it through their right hand with the complicity of their pet bird who had options. Way more options than most people. I'll blame them all. I'm just through with legacy media and through with all of their subsidiaries I know of, including Amazon.
Floridian here. "Mauschwitz" is the Disney-hater's name for the WDW complex. I have not set foot in a Disney park since 1998 and don't intend to now. Aside from the stupidly high prices, which they raise every January, who wants to stand in line to see or do anything?
Only 10,950,781? I would have thought the number would be higher, around $15 million. I always intensely disliked working on their lot, they were always miserable bastards to deal with, it was the disney culture. We all knew that he was going to cave, including all of the lawyers involved, for both sides. So your question Tom, is spot on, why did disney roll over and spend $15 million, when they didn’t have too. The next round of contract negotiations will be interesting, on one level it’s chump change, in more ways than one, if I owned disney stock, I would be livid.
Chump has the backing of Muskrat and enough money to buy any opposition. But no amount of money can sane wash chump or muskrat. Would be nice if a spine could be detected anywhere in our media landscape. It was money that caused the worm to turn and spines to crumble,
Support the Meidas Touch Network. Continue reading Tom and Heather and Robert and Joyce et al. for reliable news reports and informed, intelligent perspectives by the authors and in comments by most of their readers.
My love for Dick Van Dyke as a Disney legend and for "Mary Poppins" doesn't stop me from remembering that Walt Disney tried to break the animators union and saw communists under every bush in Hollywood. Not much has changed.
Trump will characterize this as a case that shows he's "innocent" of sexual assault. No one will correct him. The best media will not only seek access but will publish and shun. The guy's ever-presence in the media is exhausting, like a toilet that will just never flush, a housefly that will never land, and a car horn that's permanently stuck. I was all for shining the lamp of journalism on his every misdeed, but there will be no misdeeds for his official acts. Next best is to make him strain for attention, reach new heights of outrageousness until he hits peak blood pressure in seeking attention. My New Year's resolution is to ignore stories about him and spend that time leaving warnings wherever I go and sending postcards to the cluck enablers in DC letting them know how weak and craven Trump continues to make them look. Down with MSM and up with Substack, Meidas, and the Your Tubers. Back to independent journalism like in the days of I.F. Stone.
Yep. Wouldn't it be delicious if ABC paid 15 million to Trump to retain and increase access only to find out no one is watching?
I’m done
Perfect.
Not remotely surprising. Print corporate media and entertainment media are the same. We no longer need to pretend that the consumer is anything other than a contributor to them.
I don't contribute to either.
I hope to live long enough to see these assholes get their comeuppance. "I was just kissing ass," will be the 21st century version of "I was just following orders."
Me too, but I doubt it
I wonder if, just perhaps, part of the thinking behind the offer to settle was concern that if the case went to the Extreme Court after it was tossed out on summary judgment, the court--particularly given how servile it is to Trump--would reverse NY Times v. Sullivan, greatly weakening the press' right of inquiry. Now, was that a reason? Or a rationalization? Or was it not thought about at the corporate offices? (And, by the way, TC, I'm not at all sure that Trump's other sexual assaults could have been brought up at the deposition. I don't see how they come under even the broad standard of relevance--somewhat narrowed in the past couple of years--that applies to discovery in lawsuits. If one of them had been raised, Trump's lawyers would have demanded that the deposition be halted so that they could seek a ruling from the judge. If the judge ruled the question proper, Trump would have sought to appeal, which he should not be able to do, but the rules have been bent before.)
That's a very interesting question. We know Trump has talked relentlessly about "opening up" defamation law.
And his good bud Clarence Thomas is already on board.
If this whole fucking mess was a Disney movie and the lying insurrectionist villain was finally going to be forced to appear in court to testify under oath against the representatives of truth and justice I wonder how the script would find the Disney Happy Ending, because I don't see it here..
I’m old enough to have seen that there are no happy endings. Thought we might be the exception, but…
Defamation lawsuits are a common tactic among authoritarian governments which operate within a seeming democratic structure. The Lee family in Singapore have used the tactic to preclude criticism for decades.
... and now with the added benefit of being able to pass millions of dollars legally. Need to get money from an energy company in exchange for access to resources on public lands? A representative just has to say something you don't like, you bring a frivolous law suit for defamation, settle before any evidence is public so who can tell how much of a case you may have had? A few million to a shell company or someplace you can easily milk, and "here are the permits". Right out in the open and legal as far as anyone can say. Anyone who isn't willing to be hit with a defamation case that is...
Gives new meaning to "money laundering" doesn't it? Only the water being used is sewage, which does stink to high heaven and is "right out in the open and legal as far as anyone can say" as you noted.
Ditto the extreme British Unionists in Northern Ireland. Maybe it’s a British Empire legal template. Remember Trump’s best buddies, Murdoch and Musk, are both British colonials.
Thanks Tom, I fully agree. I've been to Disney land twice in my life, once in 1965 and once in 2006- firs time to take my children, last time to take my remaining daughter and her two children so, it would be meaningless for me to boycott. I'm well past the age where I enjoy cartoons, never liked comic books. Rarely watched ABC. But I am sorry the only place to get news that is honest and truthful is here on Substack. I used to be a news junkie, watched CBS, CNN, NBC nightly for 3 or 4 hours. Bur I got so fed up and angry I had my cable disconnected May 2023 and haven't watched TV since.
Well, the movie channels r still worthwhile.. Noticed Max s streaming the Lord of he Rings trilogy so I am downloading them this week. That' an appropriate story for our times.
Totally.
Salud
🗽🎄
I have Netflix, for streaming. I'm in the process of giving my TV, TV cabinet and all region DVD player and the rest of my DVDs to my youngest Granddaughter. In process because she was supposed to pick them up today but didn't quite make it.
I still miss Walter
Me too, When I taught science I used a lot of his science films to illustrate the ocean, insects, the heart and blood streams. He did a lot of good things. He was one of the few wealthy men who believed in sharing
Appeasement never works. Just ask Neville Chamberlain. By obeying in advance, these people and entities are displaying weakness and Trump hates weakness. I would argue that by doing this, they are enlarging the bullseye targets on their backs.
Absolutely right.
Don't mind if I do... blame ABC too that is. I'll blame Disney too. And I'll blame George Stephanopolous as well. According to Ben Meisalas of Meidas Touch, he makes 15 million per year and is currently personally worth around 100 million and has extremely strong name recognition so he could very well have resigned if the network would not stand behind him. His statement was not a defamation, it was not inaccurate other than within the context of a NY legal setting (which he was not speaking within), and it is laughable that Trump blithely admitted he had sexually abused the victim but felt embarrassed to have it said he had raped her: Just not credible. There was no reason to cave in a frivolous case brought to harass and send a message and which would most likely have been withdrawn, except to enable a legal means to pass money to Trump. Disney may have called the shots and ABC may have just been the right hand, but George S. was the bird in the hand that could have flown off. Disney did it through their right hand with the complicity of their pet bird who had options. Way more options than most people. I'll blame them all. I'm just through with legacy media and through with all of their subsidiaries I know of, including Amazon.
Floridian here. "Mauschwitz" is the Disney-hater's name for the WDW complex. I have not set foot in a Disney park since 1998 and don't intend to now. Aside from the stupidly high prices, which they raise every January, who wants to stand in line to see or do anything?
Library? For his collection of sharpies? For Melanoma's nudy "art" book? LOL!
Only 10,950,781? I would have thought the number would be higher, around $15 million. I always intensely disliked working on their lot, they were always miserable bastards to deal with, it was the disney culture. We all knew that he was going to cave, including all of the lawyers involved, for both sides. So your question Tom, is spot on, why did disney roll over and spend $15 million, when they didn’t have too. The next round of contract negotiations will be interesting, on one level it’s chump change, in more ways than one, if I owned disney stock, I would be livid.
Chump has the backing of Muskrat and enough money to buy any opposition. But no amount of money can sane wash chump or muskrat. Would be nice if a spine could be detected anywhere in our media landscape. It was money that caused the worm to turn and spines to crumble,
Especially disappointing in light of Disney's earlier trolling of DeSantis.