Political Poems and Songs of Protest

Defamation Derby

Defamation is difficult to prove. The plaintiff must show that the lie has an element of malice, and that actual damage has resulted. It's almost always possible for the defendant to apologize, make a retraction, and gain plausible deniability. But in spite of the slippery nature of opinion and allegation, defamation has become a successful business model. E. Jean Carroll was just awarded $5 million after a jury found that she was defamed by Donald Trump. The Dominion lawsuit netted $700 million when Fox News settled rather than risk being found liable for twice that amount.

And that's just the tip of the iceberg. Fox will likely continue to settle with other plaintiffs, other conservative news networks are being sued by Dominion, and additional plaintiffs are lined up to sue the ex-president (he's already provided Carroll with cause for another suit).

But turnabout is fair play, right? Why shouldn't the MAGA mobster share in the defamation bounty? All he needs to do is file the lawsuits and win one slam-dunk judgment after another. No one can deny that the failed, one-term, ex-president is the most maligned person in recent history. From major media outlets to the humblest of blogs, virtually everyone refers to him as a narcissist, a sociopath, a con man, a sexual predator, and above all a liar. Every day, dozens of headlines report that he spreads false claims of election fraud at his rallies and interviews. And the articles about his lies no longer use the word alleged or put the word liar in quotes.

The law is quite clear about a person being considered innocent until proven guilty. And there's no question that the negative media coverage is damaging to Trump's fund-raising efforts. The dominos are set, all Trump needs to do is topple them. Even a Trump caliber lawyer should be able to win dozens of big dollar defamation cases. The only thing that could stop Trump from collecting billions in damages is if the claims about him are true and factual. So, by allowing the defamatory claims to go unchallenged in court, the two-time loser of the popular vote doesn't just leave billions on the table; he confirms that he is indeed a fraud. Because people couldn't get away with saying those things if they weren't true.