Trump's Worst
Nightmare: #1 on His Enemies List
(Just
ask the SNL staff writers)
Background to the latest spoiled little boy rant by Trump vis-à-vis the
latest SNL skit about him from
the Freedom Forum Institute here.
The U.S. Supreme Court has
held in its 1988 decision Hustler Magazine, Inc. et al. v. Jerry Falwell that
public figures and public officials could not recover damages for the tort of
intentional infliction of emotional distress without an additional showing that “the publication contains a false statement of fact which was made with
‘actual malice,’ i.e., with knowledge that the statement was false or with
reckless disregard as to whether or not it was true.”
The Court recognized the importance of the free flow of ideas despite a possible negative emotional impact on the target of ridicule. Although the Court said not all speech enjoys the same protection under the First Amendment (for instance “fighting words” aren’t protected), it affirmed: “[...] that sort of expression in the Hustler case does not seem to us to be governed by any exception” to general First Amendment protection.
The Court recognized the importance of the free flow of ideas despite a possible negative emotional impact on the target of ridicule. Although the Court said not all speech enjoys the same protection under the First Amendment (for instance “fighting words” aren’t protected), it affirmed: “[...] that sort of expression in the Hustler case does not seem to us to be governed by any exception” to general First Amendment protection.
From The Donald: “Nothing funny about tired Saturday Night Live on Fake News NBC! Question
is, how do the Networks get away with these total Republican hit jobs without retribution? Likewise for many
other shows? Very unfair and should be
looked into. This is the real Collusion!” — Trump tweet
on February 17, 2019
This is the first in line of
a number of occasions when Trump has attacked SNL for the show's relentless
lampooning of his presidency via Alex Baldwin.
On December 16, 2018 Trump
tweeted: “A REAL scandal is the one sided coverage, hour by hour, of networks
like NBC & Democrat spin machines like Saturday Night Live. It is all
nothing less than unfair news coverage and Dem commercials. Should be tested in
courts, can’t be legal? Only defame & belittle! Collusion?”
The whole article is here
from Salon.com – worth reading.
This is related here from CNN: This shows how
wacky Trump's base is. An Ipsos poll in August found that 44% of Republicans believe
“Trump should be able to close news
outlets for bad behavior.”
Does anyone have any doubt that if Trump called for comedy shows to be more “fair and balanced in their criticism of Republicans or him,” his base would not cheer?
Does anyone have any doubt that if Trump called for comedy shows to be more “fair and balanced in their criticism of Republicans or him,” his base would not cheer?
We might see a majority
of Trump fans support silencing SNL, especially since the right has long viewed
Hollywood and the entertainment industry as anti-Republican. Of course, Trump
and his base would undoubtedly never support forcing FOX News to truly be “Fair
and Balanced” would they?
My 2 cents: Enjoy the piece, I did.
Now, stay tuned. If Trump
thinks SCOTUS will tell SNL to shut it down and stop Alex Baldwin’s parody of Trump,
then they are trying to piss up a rope.
Thanks for stopping by.
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